Just an Illusion
by Never give up Hope
Summary: How do we define what’s right and what’s wrong? What’s real and what’s not? Paige’s life is upside down everywhere she looks things have changed and she’s having trouble divining the truth from all the lies. What is real and what is just an illusion.
1. Chapter 1

**AN **

OK short mention that this is an OC story in case you weren't sure, however I will assure you that I work very hard to try and keep my characters real, so I sincerely hope Paige is not a Mary Sue. It is, to begin with, set at the start of Order of The Phoenix but as there is a new character it will be AU. Anyway if you like it or you hate it please review anyway, because I assume you all hate it if nobody reviews. Thanks to my Beta, who has spent hours correcting my mistakes, and I hope you enjoy.

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter and only own Paige and any other characters you do not recognise**

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**Chapter 1**

Introductions always were a rather sad state of affairs 

Paige's eyes moved from the house and back to the address in her hand. She was still unsure of whether she was dong the right thing. She also knew, however, that no matter how long she deliberated she would regret it if she did anything else. Still, standing on the brink of what could be the biggest mistake of her life; Paige couldn't help but be nervous. This would completely change her future and make her look very differently at her past. Then again she had been doing that for a while now.

Paige's entire life seemed riddled with mistakes. The right thing never came easily to her, and the temptation to do what was easiest had forever plagued her. Of course what was easiest generally turned out to be the worst possible decision in the long run. _This_ certainly wasn't the easiest thing to do. The easiest thing would be to turn and walk away and never look back. To keep on running until things worked themselves out. Paige had done just that so many times before. It was the coward's way out and she knew it. She knew that her own inaction had resulted in some things she could never forgive herself for.

She had only herself to blame. If she had been stronger she would have made the right choice from the start, instead of teetering between the lines never knowing where she stood. And when she had strayed she had gone the wrong way, instead of fighting for what was right, she had given into the dark seductive power and fear of the dark. Yet now she was, for once, ready to do the right thing. So why was she afraid? She was afraid because she knew they would not accept her. She was afraid because she knew they would judge her, and they would not forgive. She was afraid because she could die. She was afraid because being willing to fight for what was right meant sacrifice on so many levels. Paige wondered what she truly had left to lose.

Her past was dark, and the future perhaps even darker, but standing up looking at the house she could see the faint light that was end of the tunnel. She could only hope that it wasn't an oncoming train. She hadn't made this choice before because she feared losing all that was dear to her, but the more she had clung to on to her precious possessions, the faster they had slipped away, leaving Paige with nothing but memories, and dreams and whispers of what could have been. There was so much regret, so much guilt, and so much longing to change what had passed.

There had been no peace in neutrality and only broken promises in the shadow. Paige knew that Albus Dumbledore was being kind to her, and offering more than any other would. For that she was thankful. There was nowhere else left that Paige could turn. Both she and Albus knew that did she not take this chance, then they would find her, and she would either join them or die. Neither option held much appeal, for her – she had been to the edges of darkness and had fled recoiling from its touch. It did not matter that Paige possessed the qualities of a Slytherin - she was not evil, and she knew she never would be. There would always be temptation, but Paige had never been naïve enough to believe she would find what she sought within the Dark Lord's clutches. His promises were hollow, his rewards empty. All he brought was pain, anguish and despair - Paige was unwilling to leave the world to such a fate.

She stood now staring at a piece of paper written by a man who had given her more than she deserved, and placed his trust in her with little proof of her loyalty. True, he had not just taken her word, but even with all the assurances others had made, he had seemed to know her mind from the start. From the first moment the sorting had placed her into Slytherin for a cunning and sharp wit, he seemed to have known it would come to this moment. It would come to the moment when Paige was unready to become a faceless Slytherin amongst a sea of evil. When instead she was prepared to stand against what her old house predominantly believed. Blood meant nothing to Paige, and in truth she believed it was no longer about that for the Dark Lord. He wanted power and used any means to get it. Under the guise of keeping wizardry pure, there was merely a will to dominate, to rule.

Paige was first to admit as a house the Slytherins were cowards. Famed neither for bravery nor strength of will, she had seen many people fall, and knew she could have been one of them. Even now Paige knew that which ever side should win she would lose. She had come across the sad fact long ago, and now merely accepted it just as she did everything else. The world was not fair, and never would be. It was not black and white and could not be judged as such. Yet for people like Paige who were so many shades of grey, there was no real place in the world. She had chosen her side, but there would be no trust or love. People would accept it because they were asked to, not because they liked it.

So once again Paige stood and wondered if she was making the right decision or if she should just turn around and walk away. If she should let the world do with itself what it would. Sighing she pulled her bag onto her shoulder, muttered a spell to set the paper alight and walked to the door. She stood for a long time looking at the old black door in trepidation. The entire house, even from the outside emanated some sort of darkness, and the Slytherin like serpent twisting itself around the door knocker did nothing to change that impression.

"No turning back." She whispered, as he hand reached up and knocked on the door gently twice.

No startling beauty Paige was first to admit she had an average appearance and was easily forgettable. As the door opened, however, a face stared out in shock at her presence. Her own grey eyes lifting to meet the other's owner, Paige quickly understood why. Paige may not have been in the forefront of events at her time at school but that did not mean nobody noticed her. She had always had a quiet solitude, the ability to be a loner and look as if that was how she liked it. It was of course merely a deception as much of Paige's seven years at Hogwarts had been. Still in seven years you tended to get to know nearly everyone, whatever house they were in.

The young woman stood in front of her was none other than the Gryffindor Nymphadora Tonks. The girl had never liked the name Nymphadora as Paige recalled. Then again who would? Paige had never questioned her parents about her own name; then again Paige had never questioned her parents in general. Paige had deliberately shut her eyes to everything that went on at home since she was a young girl. She hadn't wanted to know the truth - hadn't wanted the truth to shatter the faint illusion that she still held of a happy family. Paige had spent her entire life ignoring what was in front of her eyes, and the moment she had decided she no longer wished to be blind was the moment she had released an unknown burden of guilt, of fear and of regret.

Tonks had been a few years below Paige at school, and Paige knew little of her now except that she had gone into auror training and was, apparently, a member of the Order of The Phoenix. As a Slytherin Paige had, of course, avoided contact with Gryffindors, simply because that was what was expected. She may not have been popular, but no one wanted to be _completely_ isolated from all her house mates. Everyone seemed to think that being in Slytherin made you evil too, that it meant that all your beliefs were exactly the same as all your housemates. Obviously it didn't work that way. Still everything was simple for Gryffindors. There was no in between, everything was black and white, and if you weren't with them then you were against them.

"Hi Tonks." Paige said brightly knowing it would put the girl off balance. Granted she had made her decision _not _to become a Death Eater, but the hat had still had valid reasons in putting her in Slytherin. She may not be Death Eater material but she was certainly no Gryffindor. Tonks looked flabbergasted as Paige pushed her way past and into the gloom behind her.

"You can't…..You shouldn't……" She spluttered.

"Oh don't worry I have an invitation." Remembering she had burnt the paper so it wasn't found; she frowned before smiling again. "Well I _did_."

Paige took a moment to take in her surroundings. The hallway was dark and gloomy with only a little light being given off from candles. Pictures hung on the walls all frowning and silently screaming things Paige couldn't hear. Some curtains were drawn across one picture and the faint sound of snoring could be heard. Paige involuntarily shivered as her eyes passed over the hallway, it reminded her far too much of home. She wondered why this was the place the Order had chosen for their headquarters. It seemed to be the very epitome of what they were fighting against. Then again who was she to question? They probably had their reasons.

She turned back to Tonks, whom it seemed was still having difficulty forming a sentence.

"So where's the meeting then?" She looked down at her watch "I'm not late so it can't have started." She said, once again with a smile on her face. The smile was a façade but often a helpful one. She had often heard the saying 'smile it makes people wonder what you've done wrong' and agreed with it wholeheartedly. Tonks it seemed had finally pulled herself together.

"It hasn't started yet." Tonks said, "But what are you doing here Callaghan?" Tonks virtually spat her name, and Paige tried hard not to wince. The name Callaghan was pretty much synonymous with shady dealings. They were acknowledged as dark wizards but not powerful enough to be of any real importance to the Death Eaters. To be honest Paige found it very hard to come up with something good about her family. They hadn't really wanted children but had had them out of duty, and it seemed everyone hated each other. Inter-family squabbles and, in the past, deadly duels had become commonplace. No one was loyal to anyone else, you made a name by fighting your way to the top and killing anyone who got in your way. Of course you had to be more subtle nowadays. Everything was politics. Paige was glad to have escaped when she could.

"I already told you I was invited." Paige said but looking up at Tonks she decided to drop the façade. The smile faded and her eyes grew darker, before she explained. "It's complicated, but trust me I'm on your side, and Dumbledore told me to come. I wouldn't be able to have even found the place otherwise would I?" Paige said her voice strangely even.

"No I suppose not, but I don't trust you Callaghan." Tonks said narrowing her eyes. She walked off before Paige had a chance to reply. "It's Paige." She mumbled anyway. Standing in the corridor Paige was glad she had at least anticipated the animosity - it made it less painful. Being a Slytherin came at a higher cost than many imagined; but she had only herself to blame.

Paige was startled form her musings by raised voices down the corridor.

"But mum……" A young female voice whined.

"No Ginny, and that's final." A stern rather motherly voice said in reply. The door opened flooding the corridor with more light and in the doorway stood two redheads - A young girl of about 14, and an older woman who must have been her mother. The girl who gave her mother a curious look but was met with a glare, gave Paige a wave before stomping upstairs. The woman now turned her attention to Paige, and her eyes grew slightly cold as she obviously recognised who Paige was. No doubt Tonks had given them forewarning that an evil Slytherin was on the way.

"You must be Paige." The woman said. "I'm Molly Weasley. If you come this way we're just waiting for Dumbledore."

Paige picked up her bag, followed the woman into the room and charmed the door behind her. Her eyes took in the room, which once again showed the grandeur but also the darkness of the some previous occupants of the house. Her eyes then fell on the members already assembled in the room. Dumbledore had told her some of what to expect once she had sworn her service and secrecy. There were a few she recognised - well she would have to have been living under a rock for the past few years not to. There were some redheads who were obviously Weasleys, but along with them were a couple of aurors Paige knew worked for the ministry. The most notable members, however, were both the professors McGonagall and Snape along with the convicted murderer Sirius Black.

It was a good job Paige had spent her entire life ignoring things she knew she wasn't supposed to see; it allowed her to hide her shock. She knew Dumbledore had attested to Sirius's innocence but she had never expected to see him here. Eyes in the room slowly turned to her, a few narrowed in distrust, while she saw Professor Snape raise an eyebrow. It was also lucky that Dumbledore had warned her of Snape's part in the plans - well some of it. The damn twinkle in his eye as she had come to him for his help, had shown her that he knew all along; but she admired his confidence anyway.

Paige was unsure as to how she was expected to react. It was an unwelcome feeling, she had spent a long time adhering to the rules of the society in which she existed, and she had chosen to be thrust into one in which she was unaccustomed. So instead she merely waited all eyes on her, a sort of stalemate and she wondered who would be the first to break. It seemed Sirius Black's rather brash attitude had not changed as he was first to speak.

"Who the hell is she?" He demanded rather loudly. Before Paige could answer him Tonks beat her to it.

"Paige Callaghan." She said. Sirius's eyes instantly narrowed. The Callaghans, as well as being renowned for basically being a bad bunch of wizards, were also famous for being Slytherins and he seemed to get the connection.

"What's a Slytherin doing here?" He demanded once again.

"I believe there was already a Slytherin here before I arrived." Paige said quietly, her eyes meeting Sirius's. Sirius seemed to ignore her statement and angrily look around the room.

"What is she doing in my house?" He asked angrily.

"I am sure Miss Callaghan has a valid reason for being here." Snape put in silkily.

"You'd think he would have at least warned them." Paige muttered under her breath.

"I apologise for my oversight Paige, perhaps you can forgive both Sirius and I for our discourtesy." A bright voice said from the other side of the room. Paige turned her eyes meeting the sparkling blue of Albus Dumbledore. Paige merely nodded dumbly unable to think of what to say. "Paige I would like you to meet the other members of the Order of the Phoenix." Dumbledore told her kindly.

"Other?" Questioned one of the redheads his long hair pulled back into a ponytail and what appeared to be a fang on an earring in his ear.

"Ah yes. Paige is our newest member." Dumbledore said, smiling again.

The announcement was met with a stunned silence. It was awkward and uncomfortable as once again everyone's eyes turned to Paige, a few in curiosity but most in distrust and distaste. Of course she had been expecting it but the full impact of the decision she had made now finally sunk in. She had allied herself with a group of people most of whom would rather die than work with her. Ok, perhaps that was a bit of an exaggeration, but Gryffindor pride was a big obstacle.

"Why?" A voice Paige did not recognise asked. Paige frowned at the question; it was so ambiguous, and had so many answers. There was an accumulation of reasons why she was here and they could not be explained in mere moments. Paige was having trouble coming to terms with some of them herself, and she certainly was not ready to tell anyone else her reasoning.

"I believe I will leave that up to Paige to explain as she sees fit. Suffice it to say she has agreed to join us and help in anyway she can. Now shall we begin the meeting?" Dumbledore's words carried weight with all in the room. Everyone took seats around a large table within the room, and Dumbledore sat at the head. Paige found herself between Professor Snape and one of the Weasleys. She listened intently to the reports and slowly fitted pieces together of what was going on.

The conversation turned to the guard duty of Harry Potter, and there were some arguments mostly headed by Sirius about when they were going to fetch him. As it seemed the same arguments became repeated again Paige phased out of the conversation. As she had said; she would have had to have been living under a rock to not know about what was going on. Despite the ministry's denial of the matter Paige knew that the Dark Lord had returned and the times of relative peace were diminishing. It was that, not to mention some other delicate matters, which had driven her from her position of neutrality and brought her here.

She phased back in as the group seemed to have come to some sort of conclusion.

"So we're agreed, we'll leave it a few more weeks, before we review the situation." A man who appeared to be Molly's husband said. Sirius was wearing a deep frown and still did not seem to agree with the decision.

"You know he's safest there Sirius." A man put in his voice passive and his eyes a gentle amber. Sirius merely nodded his dark grey eyes still showing his disagreement.

"Now we have one last matter to discuss." Dumbledore said his blue eyes turning once again to Paige. "Over the summer Paige will need somewhere to stay."

There was a growl from Alastor Moody, whose distrust of everyone was more than acute with Paige. "I do not believe it will be safe for you to return home." Dumbledore said. Paige scoffed she had not been _home _in years, and you could hardly call it home.

"I have no home." She said darkly.

"Be that as it may…" Continued Dumbledore "I think it best if you take up residence here. Sirius has more than enough space." His suggestion was met with uproar mainly from Sirius but also from several other people. Paige tried to sink further into her seat fighting hard to become part of the upholstery.

"Really Albus…Do you think it's safe?" Molly put in.

"I will not have _her_ staying in my house." Sirius said.

"Surely she can go somewhere else." Tonks agreed.

"I thank you for the thought Albus and for your continued care on my behalf but I believe I would be about as welcome as the plague." Paige said fighting hard to hold onto her dignity.

"Nonsense. Molly, it is perfectly safe, Sirius I would appreciate it if you kept your prejudices in check, and yes Tonks perhaps she could go somewhere else, but if we would like to keep Miss Callaghan alive and in one piece then this is the best option." Dumbledore said his voice holding a tone of finality. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have a meeting with the minister." He said his voice betraying slightly his distaste of the task. He stood up, gave them all a wave, looked at Paige - a slight twinkle in his eye - and disappeared with a pop. Paige wondered whether it would have been prudent to mention to Dumbledore that half the people in this room would rather she wasn't in one piece, but it was a little late now. She knew at least that they had enough respect in Dumbledore to follow his orders even if they didn't like them.

Chatter slowly began to build again in the room, discussion of order and non order business. Paige still felt and noticed the glances from many in the room, and knew that most of them were in dislike. It was obvious Dumbledore had a plan and she would have to trust his judgement, her curiosity wondered what on earth he could want her there for.

"I would greatly like to know, what is it Miss Callaghan that drove you here into the arms of people your house and your family so greatly detest." A voice murmured from her left. She looked over and met the black eyes of Professor Snape. He had only just become a teacher when she had joined the school; and became head of the house shortly afterwards, but there had always been something about him that Paige could never decipher. Then again when she had been at school it had been her life ambition to blend into the wallpaper and to just be like everyone else. To think and act like they did. She had even begun to fool herself.

"And as I am sure you will find out there were a great number of matters, some of which are somewhat delicate and I would rather not discuss them in a room where half the people would not be averse to my dismemberment." She whispered back, her eyes still cautiously watching the other occupants.

"I would assume Miss Callaghan you would be used to it." Snape replied. Paige figured that he was obviously well aware of the situation within the Callaghan household.

"True, but generally most are not quite so open with their opinion." Page said.

"For valid reasons one would assume." Snape answered.

"As you and I are both aware voicing your opinion in such a manner is generally the occupation for those with a rather short life expectancy, or a death wish" Paige said "Obviously here it is not the case."

"I am sure you will get used to it Miss Callaghan, after all it seems you will be spending a lot of time here." Snape replied. "And perhaps when the time is right you could enlighten me as to the events which led to such an event."

"Yes I am sure that I could. By the way I would appreciate if you called me Paige." Paige noticed the raised eyebrow, and she decided to clarify the situation "It is not that I am trying to be overly familiar in any way, but I would rather not be associated too heavily with my family at the moment."

Snape's eyes seemed to flash with understanding as he nodded and stood, his black robes swishing around him.

"If you would excuse me Miss…….Paige. I have some business to attend to, however rest assured when I return we will find some opportunity to discuss your rather unexpected circumstances." He said then walked away.

"How kind." Paige muttered under her breath, once he had gone.

It had been a long time since Paige had held a conversation which held so many underlying meanings and things left unsaid. Snape obviously knew more than he let on, and Paige's obstinate will to avoid the subject only seemed to make him more determined to get to the bottom of things. She was no longer a student but that did not make the man any less intimidating. Paige had gone out of her way to avoid attention in school, but by doing that she had often gained it anyway. Her biggest problem was that she was not known for anything, people seemed to think of her as mysterious. It was not something Paige had intentionally worked at, but she had never really lost the reputation. She had avoided confrontation on nearly all fronts, because she knew that in most cases she could not win. Once again this seemed to increase people's belief that Paige was hiding things. Of course everyone has secrets, but to have a reputation for it, meant everyone worked harder to find out about her.

Paige was still monumentally uncomfortable with the situation. It was perfectly clear that she was unwelcome here, and Paige had not quite enough of a stubborn nature to be insisting on staying somewhere where she was not welcome. She understood why Dumbledore had said it would be best; and had no particular reason to shorten her life span; but she wasn't sure staying here was the best option. Luckily Paige's ability to close her eyes to things she did not want to see came in handy on this occasion, it meant she could dispel the worried and offended thoughts from her mind and concentrate on the problems at hand.

It seemed the meeting had finally properly ending as a lot of people began to head out. She did not move from her seat. Snape had departed and the redhead sat to her right had left long ago, so Paige found herself sat on her own once more. She was unsure once again as to exactly what she should do. If Sirius Black had accepted Dumbledore's word then she would hope he would have the courtesy to allow her a room. Of course his animosity towards was hardly well veiled, and she couldn't really rely on his manners.

Although the room had emptied it seemed to fill once again quite quickly as a number of younger redheads walked in laughing and joking followed by a young girl with bushy hair and the amber eyed man who had calmed Sirius before. They looked to be in conversation yet as they walked through both lifted their eyes to look at Paige. She was intelligent enough to realise their conversation had obviously been involving her to some degree. Luckily however she detected no great deal of hatred from the two, instead there seemed to be merely suspicion and wariness. That was something she was more used to handling. No one trusted the Callaghan family. Even other family members were lucky to confide in one another.

"Miss Callaghan?" The young woman asked shyly as she made her way over. Paige once again fought the wince.

"Paige." She corrected.

"Paige." The girl corrected herself "Sirius has… erm… asked… that we show you your room and anything else you may need to know about the house."

Paige caught the hesitation at the word 'asked' and knew it was obvious what ever Sirius had said it was nowhere near as polite as the girl in front of her had put it.

"That's very kind." Paige said picking up her bag and standing up. She wanted to try not to make _everyone_ here her enemy, and at least those before her were making an effort to be nice - even if they didn't really want to. It was only after standing up that she realised many of the others in the room had turned to face her. Inquisitive faces of several red heads were looking at her with interest.

"I'm Hermione by the way. Hermione Granger." The young woman told her, and Paige realising that for once this was probably a time to be polite and try and make a good impression, replied swiftly.

"It's nice to meet you." The young woman actually looked generally surprised. Then again Paige had no reason to expect anything other than mistrust from these people. Prejudices were ingrained deeply within every generation. Perhaps too deep.

Hermione led her up the stairs of the dark and grim house trying to make polite conversation. Paige replied but her heart was not really in it, her mind whirling with the ramifications of the move she had made. She had no doubt that when people found out that Paige Callaghan was no longer a recognised member of the Callaghan family, there would be a huge stir among the pureblood circles. Paige had known it was coming; her lack of interest in family affairs and then the unfortunate incident a few months ago that had ultimately led her here, were clear indicators of her future.

It was not that Paige missed her family, or could claim being greatly upset by their disowning of her. It was more the huge change that it inevitably made, Paige had spent most of her life trying to fit in, and now she was an outcast. It should not have been a surprising event, and she had known it was coming from the moment she had stepped from the Hogwarts grounds in her seventh year and gone against her family's wishes. They had been so proud. Even in her mind Paige felt disgusted. They had been so proud that Paige Callaghan the rather forgotten daughter of the ranks had been recognised by The Dark Lord. She knew now that had she taken the carriage that day as was planned, she would probably amongst them now, her heart and soul crying out against all that she was forced to do.

You can look back on your past, and see those moments. Those moments at the time that don't seem so important, yet now, now in the present you realise have changed the course of your entire life forever. There were so many mistakes in Paige's life. So many times when she had reached those moments and made the choice that looked easiest, made the choice that seemed to save her the most pain. In the long run, though, all those choices had gone astray. Perhaps this would be the same, but far from the easy decision Paige realised that even if it did go wrong, she would have the knowledge that for once she had at least tried.

Realising that Hermione was entering a room on the left Paige followed. She made no sound as they entered the sparsely furnished and barely decorated room, although Hermione seemed a little shocked. She turned to Paige, her eyes wide.

"Oh I'm sure I've made a mistake Sirius must have meant another room." Paige studied the girl in front of her. She deduced that the girl was neither naïve nor stupid, she merely had a hard time seeing Sirius Black - someone she had obviously come to admire - as a highly prejudiced and hypocritical man. Paige knew just as Hermione did, that Sirius had come from a long line of Slytherins and darker wizards, much higher in pureblood society than the Callaghans would ever be. Then again the Callaghans were all viewed as uncivil traitorous crooks; for valid reasons of course. Yet Sirius could still not look beyond the fact that Paige had been in Slytherin.

"I'm sure it will be fine." Paige said.

"Oh no……I'm sure we can find something a bit more….." Hermione looked round the room again and Paige got her meaning. Aside from a bed and wardrobe there was no furniture. The floor was bare - wood splinters were visible to the eye. The room had no windows and was painted with a chipped off grey black paint. There were no adornments in the entire room - there was pretty much nothing of anything.

"Look, I'll be straight with you. You and I both know why Sirius directed you to this room; I don't want to cause any more trouble by bringing it up. It was extremely hospitable of him to not hex me on the spot as soon as Dumbledore left and leave me as prey to the Death Eaters. So under the circumstances I'm going to count my blessings. It's nice that I'm not the epitome of all evil to all the members of this house, but don't take any trouble on my account. It's not worth it."

Hermione looked a little shocked at Paige's outburst. Aside from slightly disturbing any impressions the girl had already obviously gathered about Paige; she realised it wasn't exactly the response the girl was expecting. Hermione then nodded and fled the room. Paige sighed and sat down on the bed, the mattress didn't budge as she sat upon it, and she figured it could have quite easily been lying there unused for centuries. There were rooms within the Callaghan household that went unused, though probably less than here. Still the house had been passed down for generations and even extended family members seemed to live there. It was an odd system - one filled with hierarchical pride and a lot of backstabbing. Changing into some sleep wear and wincing as bare feet caught a splinter in the floor. Paige knew that however safe she did not really want to stay here for long.

Lying back on the bed, Paige didn't even bother to shift the covers instead she wrapped herself in her cloak. She had no doubt that the possibly antique quilt would fall apart. Either that or be infested with some sort of mould, or, knowing the magical household, some sort of magic. Without heating she knew she would be cold, so grabbing her wand she muttered a brief charm to keep herself warm and tried hard to go to sleep, without thinking about things of the future.

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	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

The trials of being a Slytherin and losing your shoes 

Paige couldn't help but groan as she awoke to the darkness of her room. There were no lights in the room, and no windows so she could see very little of her surroundings - not that there was anything to see. Grabbing her wand from where it had been lying next to her, she muttered _lumos_, and her wand light illuminated the area. A little light came from the crack under the door from the hall outside; but Paige wasn't sure if it was sunlight or lamplight.

She no longer felt tired; but that didn't tell her anything about the time. Paige had been known to sleep for less than an hour and wake up feeling refreshed. Rolling from the bed, and wincing as her feet thudded against the cold hard wood floor, Paige kept her cloak tightly around her and put on her shoes to avoid splinters. The room was even chillier than it had been before she went to sleep and her heating charm had obviously worn off. Reaching her hand to her hair; she felt the grease and knew she needed a shower. She did not have any particular desire to go in search of someone to tell her where it was. It would just make her look arrogant and incompetent for not listening when Hermione had given her a tour. Instead keeping the cloak tight about her she wandered out of the room. It appeared to be early morning from what she could see and it didn't sound as if many people were up.

She didn't try exceptionally hard to keep quiet; as she figured anyone else housed on this floor, Sirius clearly disliked as much as her, and being as the only person who fit that bill seemed to be Severus Snape and he certainly wasn't here, the floor must be unoccupied. She pushed open half a dozen doors to find rooms in various states of disrepair. It seemed that the work on the house had yet to extend to this floor. Finding a door at the end of the corridor Paige was about to give up hope that this floor held a bathroom. Thankfully as she opened the door she caught sight of the rather dingy bath and shower along with a sink. She walked in; and then wished she hadn't. The floor was clearly spelled as the souls of her shoes began to disintegrate rapidly. Panicking she undid them and jumped to stand on the edge of the bath. The flooring slowly devoured her shoes and Paige was perched rather precariously on the bath edge. She had thought about standing in the bath; but found it rather occupied. Sitting there within the bath were nearly a dozen spiders all of which were larger than the palm of her hand. Wobbling dangerously she pulled her wand from the cloak pocket and muttered a spell to rid the bath of spiders. It seemed, however, that a few of them were impervious to the charm.

Paige was not enjoying her position at all. She had no idea what spell was on the floor and would need to stand in the bath to then stand on the sink to reach the door. The bath which now had only four spiders in it, all of which looked decidedly angry, was also filled with what appeared to be some kind of black mould. With the way her luck was going Paige would not have been surprised if the mould didn't try to eat her too. Thinking quickly Paige grimaced but pulled off her cloak wobbling dangerously as she did so and reached down with a surprising show of dexterity and caught one of the spiders. Feeling decidedly cruel she tossed it onto the floor and watched it be incinerated. Not that there was much else she could have done. She was hardly going to try and rescue the damn things and she wasn't even thinking of getting closer; they were probably poisonous.

Repeating the process, for the others the spiders were finally gone. She didn't actually know where they had gone too though. It seemed entirely possible that the spelled floor had simply destroyed them; but that type of magic tended to wear off after a while; it would have to be exceedingly strong to have survived all the years. More than likely it was more a portal type trapping the spiders and shoes, and any unfortunate visitors without the skill or wit to escape. She did not, however, wish to test her theory. Even if it was right it would still probably kill her, and the spiders, and she doubted she would ever see her shoes again.

Turning back to the bath she looked at the black mould in disgust before muttering _scourgify_ and sighed in relief as it disappeared. Finally something in this house that turned out to actually be what it appeared. Standing in the bath; she wondered whether she should risk having a shower. She had no towel; but she could spell herself dry and use the cloak she supposed. Then again the water was potentially lethal, feeling her hair again she decided it was worth investigating. Jumping back on the bath edge she reached out and switched on the water. It spluttered and coughed before finally beginning to run. It ran a suspicious dark red colour for several seconds before running clear. She tentatively reached out her hand and felt the water; it was cold but appeared to be just water. Feeling the grime on her hair and body Paige decided to risk it. She quickly put her clothes into the sink; the only safe place for them, and stepped into the spray.

The water was freezing cold and she shivered violently, before rapidly washing her hair and body; then turning the water off. Drying herself with a spell; she put her clothes back on and then precariously climbed onto the sink. Judging the distance she jumped, and landed clear of the bathroom floor and onto the wood floor of the hall; minus any shoes. She groaned again as she realised she would now have to walk around the house barefoot for the rest of the day; because she had not bothered packing another pair of shoes in her abrupt departure. Unfortunately she had not managed to predict the shoe eating floor; and had not come prepared, so not only was she going to be viewed as the epitome of all evil by members of the household, she was also going to look like a complete idiot who owned no shoes. She did not delude herself with the idea that explaining the bathroom predicament would help them understand. Then again, maybe they weren't all like Sirius. Maybe some of them could accept that not everything is as it appears.

Still, thinking on everything that had happened since she had walked out of those school gates on the last day of term, and even from the day she had walked through them she doubted it. She had known that there would be a price. Had she not have been placed in Slytherin for her rather grey view on the situation then she would have paid the price at the home and perhaps at a higher cost to herself. As it turned out she had managed seven years nearly pain free; a little lonely, and a certain amount of being highly observant and then picking out what you weren't meant to see; but pretty painless. Her parents had been proud if disinterested; and the rest of the Callaghan mob had more pressing concerns of who was to become family leader; on their great grandfather's death. However there had still been a price. The price she paid for being a Slytherin and seven years of basic freedom. It was the price of guilt for shutting her eyes for years and ignoring; the cruel; the unjust the things that she knew were wrong. It was the price of every wary glance, prejudiced comment, lack of friends and allies. There was a price for everything; but for Paige the price was always high.

As she padded barefoot down the many stairs towards the kitchen, she wondered. Were there any other Slytherins like her; who had done the same or acted the same? Except for them there would not have been any circumstances that pushed them to this. There would have been no deciding factor; that had shown them however tempting the darkness, however right they had been told it was; it was a lie. Maybe there was just her; the foolish girl clinging so hard to delusions of right and wrong; and of her family that she refused to see the truth. And when she did it was too late to change the past; to put right some things that so desperately haunted her present. She knew just how close she had come; just how close she had come to the other side of the line; and that just one moment could have changed everything.

Her eyes caught sight of a tapestry hanging at the bottom of the stairs. She came to a halt as her eyes stared at it, gold threads interconnected the names and the motto lay scrolling across the top. The Callaghan family tree was similar, with parts burned off, for those who had shamed them; she didn't actually remember if hers had ever been there to begin with. She stared at all the interconnected pureblood families and the burn holes of those who displeased the head of the Black family. It seemed however that the Black family was slowly diminishing as blood was kept between only wizarding families, whereas the Callaghan family was forever increasing with bastard children and long lost relatives. Extended family lived and died at the manor, often within short spaces of each other. Their entire view was so archaic, and at times savage, Paige often wondered how they had survived at all, let alone become so widespread.

She wondered why Sirius kept it here; she searched for his name towards the bottom but only found a burn mark; not surprising really. Next to his name lay the name of his brother Regulus Black. Regulus had been at school the same time as Paige had, they were in the same house, so she had known him - though not much of course. Not that she really knew all that much about the Black family in general; the Callaghan's were hardly well respected and she and Regulus had not really interacted all that much. She knew quite a bit about the aristocracy of pureblood society; despite how her own family was run. Even from a young age she had decided she did not want to be like them and at the time the only way out had seemed to be the darkness, if she could be good enough, if she could prove herself worthy. Sirius however had not seen it like that; he did not want to be like them, so he pushed himself so far opposite into the side of good that no one could ever mistake them again. That was where she supposed if she had the courage to begin with they would have been similar. Then again courage never really had been her forte.

Stepping into the dining room, Paige was not surprised to see it only occupied by one person: Remus Lupin. He was sat at the other side of the table a cup of coffee in front of him, and a plate with one piece of toast. He had the Daily Prophet in his hand and was deeply engrossed in reading it. Paige took the chance to study the man; he had hazel eyes which were almost amber and light brown, although she did see flecks of grey, slightly mussed hair. A small scar was on his left cheek, and he looked tired and a little haunted, but Paige got the feeling this was his normal look. Despite all this Paige did not think he was particularly unattractive, he did not have the striking looks of Sirius who despite his years in Azkaban still showed the signs of being the incredibly handsome youth he was once.

Finally noticing her presence Remus looked up from his paper and acknowledged her with a small smile. Returning it, Paige went into the kitchen and made a coffee before taking a seat across from him. Paige did not feel any open hostility and the man showed no signs of hatred, or even open mistrust as the others had.

"Up a little early?" he questioned as she took a sip of coffee.

"Not really sure what time it is to be honest." She admitted.

"A little after six." He told her. Well he was right it was certainly early being as she didn't really get to sleep until about two, maybe three yesterday.

"Just felt like it was time to get up. You?" She questioned hoping to drive the attention away from herself.

"Similar, I'm generally first up anyway." He said good naturedly. "Was your room alright?"

Paige was unsure how to answer she could answer truthfully and make Sirius look bad, or she could lie and try to live with it. She had no real reason to lie except that perhaps it would improve Sirius's judgement of her, but she decided telling the truth to a pretty much complete stranger despite the topic may be pushing it. There was also the added advantage that if she lied, Remus would find out eventually that she had been doing so; it would make her look better for putting up with it; it would also give her the whole martyr look.

"Not too bad." She replied vaguely, slipping back into old habits, or keeping her voice deliberately blank. Remus nodded his eyes not meeting hers or questioning what she said; then again why would he have need to?

He closed the paper as he finished it and Paige looked with interest at the front cover she looked up at Remus.

"Do you mind?" She asked indicating it.

"Not at all." He told her. She picked it up with a smile before offhandedly speaking again.

"I would go fetch my book to read; but I don't know if I can be bothered to trek up about six flights of stairs." She chuckled to herself but heard no sound from her companion, eyes reading the inside cover. She finished a sentence and looked up almost feeling his gaze.

"Sixth floor?" He asked almost too casually. She nodded, taking a sup of coffee.

"Not too busy up there to tell you the truth, aside from the living collection of mould and spiders so large Sirius should think of charging rent." She joked again. It seemed her attempt at currying sympathy were working. Remus looked thoroughly disgruntled and to be honest a little annoyed. Possibly the sympathy angle was not her best idea? She thought fast to try and placate the situation.

"It's quite nice really…..kind of." She muttered "And peaceful…. Well sort of." She tried again, there had been a valid reason she was bad at the politics of the Callaghan household and this was it; she just couldn't pass up the chance to get an insulting word in; she wasn't sycophantic enough. She realised that she had slightly destroyed her own plan of making herself look better; but this could work too, she had at least tried to appear less Slytherin by not openly complaining about the horrid dangers she had faced at Sirius's generosity.

"Excuse me." Remus said getting up and walking out of the room his eyes set.

"That didn't turn out quite how I planned." She muttered before going back to the paper. She had barely reached the middle before she heard shouts that would probably wake the rest of the house.

"We agreed, Sirius." She heard Remus's voice say as they moved closer.

"I didn't agree anything; except from allowing her to stay. Which I did." He objected sharply. "I don't see the problem." He said obviously trying to calm his anger.

"The problem Sirius, is that you have housed that young woman who has turned against everything she knows to try and be of some help to us, in a place unfit for animals let alone human beings." Remus said rationally if not a little angrily. It was nice at least that someone was standing up for her.

"It's fine Remus. I don't know what the fuss is about; she said it was fine herself." Sirius said walking into the room where Paige now sat. Sirius shot her a look of utmost loathing; and almost feeling the back of her neck rise she stood up. Remus walked in and gave Paige a tired smile.

"I'll just go then." Paige said laying the paper down "Thanks Remus… Just…Thanks." She said and moved away from the table to walk past them.

"Why aren't you wearing any shoes?" Sirius shot at her.

"I was wearing shoes. They got eaten by the bathroom floor." She replied almost nonchalantly. Both Remus and Sirius turned to stare at her and she figured they probably wanted an explanation. "Sixth floor bathroom's got some kind of spell on it. Anything on the floor seems to get kind of dissolved; I went for a shower and was unable to save my shoes. Although my life was in question." She said a typically Slytherin irony in her voice. "As you may have guessed the shoes became a lesser concern."

Not waiting for a reply Paige left the room; unwilling to trek back upstairs and see what other nasty surprises the floor where she was staying held, she took a right turn and planned to explore the ground floor. She figured this was the floor which would be most occupied therefore void of any strange and dangerous spells. As she came upon what looked to be a sitting room her eyes were drawn to a redhead sat by the fire. He was young she wouldn't have placed him at over the age of sixteen. Red hair clearly marked him as one of the Weasleys and by the look of his dishevelled state he had just got up, no doubt courtesy of Remus and Sirius. He was also looking down at a chessboard which sat on the table.

Paige had not played chess for a long time, she had been taught it when she was younger. Firstly by one of her many uncles, but who had given up after realising that Paige actually had no aptitude for the game. After that her tutelage under the subject had been taken up by a rather different sort of person. She had never questioned his motives and to be perfectly honestdid not really want to now, for she knew it would lead her down a dark path. She had been young, and foolish, and in awe when he had first shown interest. However despite the chilling feeling she got whenever thinking back over the times she had been in his presence he had taught her how to play. In retrospective their games had perhaps been of more importance than she first believed; they also seemed more sinister, his eyes boring into hers, his smile so false and cold. She had been young she had not wished to question, just as she had never done.

The redhead finally seemed to notice her presence, his eyes widened in shock before narrowing in distrust.

"Oy, who are you?" He asked abruptly.

"I apologise." She said "For not introducing myself earlier. My name is Paige Callaghan. Would I be correct in the assumption that you are another member of the Weasley family?"

He nodded dumbly his mouth open. Paige knew why, for while physically she was little to look at, mouse brown hair and steel grey eyes were hardly startlingly beautiful, she did possess the typical ability of Slytherins to play whichever role needed to be played and for the moment the polite and sophisticated would probably be best.

"Do you play?" She asked with forced mild interest. She probably shouldn't take the temptation to play, for whilst it would take her mind off her present troubles it would force it into the past. Into the past of purely Slytherin temperament of no doubts and no regrets, and of blind belief and loyalty. He nodded again and she took the opportunity to take the seat opposite from him. Noticing that her pieces were white she moved to switch it before remembering. He had always wanted to play as white; she had never understood why; maybe just another façade, another layer of deceit, for they all knew, it was plain to see if you chose to. It was plain to see that the man had no shred of goodness in him, he was pure malice, anger and hatred, his soul was as black as night, and yet he had always played white.

"You don't mind do you?" She asked indicating the board; as the boy looked a little confused "I can't play as white."

"No." He replied, obviously still a little shocked. She switched the board and waited. White always played first. Maybe that was why, maybe that was why he was white, because he always played first, he always made the first move. Shaking the thoughts she concentrated on the board as the boy made his first move, realising with shock she had yet to ask him his name.

"I'm sorry, I'm being inexcusably rude. I've yet to ask your name and I'm already coercing you into playing chess with me." She said in what she hoped was an apologetic voice.

"Don't worry about it; I'm Ron by the way. Ron Weasley as you guessed." He said watching as she made a move.

She had no doubt that she was going to lose. She always did. It sounded odd that she loved to play when she always lost. It wasn't though, not really. To Paige the game was symbolic in a lot of ways. It was taught to her by one of the most evil men she had ever met and yet it marked the fact that she could never count herself amongst them no matter how much she may have at one point willed it. She was a defensive player. Nothing really wrong with that, except it was virtually impossible to win. She hated losing pieces. Any of them. Even the pawns were important. That was why she always lost; she was unwilling to sacrifice her pieces just to win. He had seen it as weakness; perhaps he was right, but it didn't matter that she lost. It never did; because she wasn't really losing at all. Every time she had played; and still remained at this point, she had never really lost at all. Not really. She had won the most important game of all. She hadn't lost herself to the darkness. Not yet at least. Paige knew that the moment she was willing to put her knight in harms way; that it would be the end. She would have failed. She would have truly lost.

Once the game was over, Ron looked up from the board surprised for although he had beaten her, only one of her pieces lay destroyed on the board.

"You're really good you know." He told her as she repaired the pieces and stood up "You'd have beaten me, if you'd have just sacrificed that….." Paige cut him off, wondering how to explain it.

"That's not how I play. You would have beaten me anyway." She assured him as she caught his glare. "Thanks for the game Ron." Paige said giving him a true smile before she left the room.

Padding back up the stairs, bare feet cold against the dark wood floor. Paige smiled slightly; maybe she hadn't made the wrong decision after all. There would always be a price to pay for everything she had done. A price even higher than the trials of being a Slytherin.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

The Picture of Dorian Grey. Well not exactly

Traipsing back up the six flights of stairs, Paige was actually beginning to miss the ability to apparate. The anti-apparition spells, although vital, were a pain in a house such as this. Probably it was only Paige who thought this though, as she was the only one housed on this floor. As far as she could figure the first and the second along with about half of the third floor had been properly cleaned, and removed of any hazardous spells or dark objects. Whereas Paige's current residence of the sixth floor had been pretty much classified as off limits to anyone in the house, unless of course you were a Slytherin. She had no doubt that Sirius would not mind if _she_ fell down the stairs.

Paige actually felt apprehensive. After what she found in the bathroom; she wondered what the other rooms held. There had been noise across the hall from herself the night she went to sleep; but she had been sure at the time it was just whoever was staying in that room. The knowledge that no one was actually in that room was of course a little unsettling, and for Paige's peace of mind needed some looking into. Under other circumstances she would not have contemplated investigating herself, but there was no one she would ask in this house to help her, which basically meant she was left on her own.

Wand at the ready bare feet making little noise on the floor, she cautiously pushed open the dark wooden door. The door looked no different from any other in the hall, its surface chipped and any varnish long but gone. It opened with a rather ominous creak and despite everything Paige could feel her heart rate increasing. Not daring to even step into the room she pushed open the door all the way. Unfortunately the lack of windows in the room meant that she could see little of its interior. Looking to her left she grabbed an ornate candlestick which was completely covered with cobwebs and tossed it onto the floor of the room, Paige did not want to be caught unaware by any more man-eating floors. The heavy candlestick landed with a resounding thud and Page swore she heard a startled yelp.

"Who's there?" She called but of course there was no reply. Lighting her wand she cautiously stepped into the room. Paige was immediately hit by the sharp contrast of this room to her own. Whereas hers was bare, dull, plain and lifeless. This room was ornate, richly furnished and held so many imprints of life that Paige could easily conjure of an image of whoever lived here.

Although cobwebs and dust coated everything it did not detract from the grandeur of the room; it merely made it look unlived in, and rather sad. It was richly decorated in dark greens, silvers and blacks; clearly Slytherin colours. A four poster bed stood on the back wall of the room whilst a bedside table with more candles and books piled high was of a dark black wood. The floor was once again dark wood, but Paige had no doubt that in times past it had been well cared for. Shelves filled to the brim with books lined the walls, and as her eyes trailed upwards towards the high ceiling, Paige could hardly contain her gasp. What looked to be a painting covered the entire ceiling, yet on close inspection it wasn't a painting. At the moment it showed grey sky, clouds moving swiftly over, but Paige realised it must be similar to spell which enchanted the Hogwarts ceiling; it was enchanted to look like the sky outside.

Paige was so enthralled watching the ceiling that she had failed to take in the rest of the room, but as there was a muffled clatter from somewhere in the vicinity she looked around sharply. Her eyes darted looking for the intruder as he had clutched tightly to her wand. Her eyes fell upon a black velvet curtain that was she less observant would believe covered a window. However Paige knew from downstairs; that the curtain hid a painting just as the one in the front hall did. Her thoughts whirled as to who was in the painting; and she knew it had to be someone of importance to the Black family to have his painting hung in a room like this.

Paige fought back her trepidation and walked carefully over to the wall at which it hung, in a rapid movement she moved the curtain aside revealing the painting. The painting could have been a mirror as it clearly depicted the room in which she was stood, the only things that gave it away as the painted image it was, were the lack of dust and cobwebs, the unmoving ceiling, and most obviously a young man about the twenty. The portrait blinked at her, but his grey eyes stared down at her inquisitively with more than a little derision.

He looked so much like Sirius, Paige could only stare. Take away the years between them, take away Sirius's years in Azkaban which had fundamentally changed his appearance and they could have passed for twins. That is, unless you looked in their eyes. Sirius who always gave the vaguely haunted look also showed his younger self in his eyes, whereas looking at the man in the picture Paige had no doubt that this man was a Slytherin. The haunted look in these eyes was for a different reason, it was the look that she had seen in every Slytherin's eyes, the proof that being in Slytherin cost a lot more than any other could know. Paige had to shake herself and remember the tapestry downstairs, remember back to reading the Daily Profit years ago; remember that the man in front of her was in fact dead. That the image before her was just that; merely an image and a representation of the man when this picture was painted; that it was not real.

"Nice to see you again Regulus." She managed to choke out. The Portrait's eyes seemed to widen and then narrow in recognition.

"Paige Callaghan." He said slowly "I remember you."

"Good to know Regulus, I never thought of myself as all that memorable." She said.

"Oh you weren't." He replied ignoring her disgruntled look "But your advocates were." Of course any one of the Death Eaters would have known, and this man for however short a time, had been a Death Eater.

"Well nice to know you at least remembered that much." She said quietly.

"Well it's not like there's much to remember." He sneered. Her eyes narrowed instantly and her Slytherin instincts took over.

"At least one of us still remains in the land of living to remember." She shot at him.

"Oh how droll." He said sarcastically.

"It seems your years as a portrait have done nothing to improve your intelligence Regulus." She told him.

"Just as your years did nothing to improve you in general. You know I did have some hope, that he would be able to train you, clearly I was wrong." He told her.

"Clearly." She replied acidly.

"It seems that you have fallen even further than I ever believed possible; even for a Callaghan. You always were such a disappointment to your family…"

"Are you going to get to the point? I'm really getting rather bored." Paige told him, cutting him off.

"Staying here in my blood traitor of a brother's house Paige?" He asked. "I would like to say expected better, but I really didn't."

"You said yourself you hardly remember me, so how you can claim to know so much about my prospects I hardly know." She said.

"Well I would expect better from any Slytherin." He retorted.

"Didn't do quite so well yourself though did you Regulus?" She taunted. "You know, the whole getting killed by your own people. Rather ironic I suppose."

"You know nothing!" He shouted. "At least I had the courage to stand for the purity of our race." He said.

"You really believe that crap don't you?" She muttered "And courage Regulus? You don't know what the word means. You joined up because you were too cowardly to tell your mother you were afraid, and you died because you were too cowardly to do what they asked for what you believed in."

"You….You…. Traitorous…backstabbing…." He sputtered.

"You can stand here calling me names all day, but it won't get you anywhere. You know what I found out Regulus, all Slytherins our cowards, and you're certainly no exception. So is it cowardice that has kept you here in this room? Tell me Regulus why is it you don't venture downstairs to taunt your brother with these insults?" she asked.

"I can't." He spat.

"You can't." She said incredulous

"Yes. The magic of the painting doesn't work how it was meant to, I can't leave this canvas." He told her, his eyes still showing his hatred. Paige knew she should feel pity; that he had been trapped here alone since the day himself and his family had died. He wasn't real though; the painting in front of her was a memory, a whisper of the personality of the real Regulus Black. Even if he had been real, Paige did not think she would be able to work up all that much sympathy for him; he got what he deserved.

"Tragic." She said sarcastically "Probably for the best though. I have no doubt that Sirius if he knew you were here and able to freely move about the house would be trying to find a way to remove you from the house completely." She looked at the picture and saw the slight fear in his eyes and knew she was right in her assessment of him "And even after being here all these years, you'd rather stay all alone than face your own end. You always were a coward; and it seems you always will be."

Paige turned to walk away, but his voice stopped her.

"And you think you're not?" He asked a gleam of triumph in his eyes, as if he had just found a way to hurt her.

"No Regulus, I know I am." She told him her eyes once again meeting the grey of his own. There was no amount of depth like there was in Sirius's eyes; they were not as real. Perhaps it was because he was just a picture, but Paige knew that even if it were the real Regulus standing before her in this room, his eyes would not hold the same light Sirius's did, the same depths of hurt and of courage. It was something neither of them understood, but perhaps one day Paige would be able to.

"Then what are you doing here Paige? Surrounded by Gryffindors, Mudbloods, Blood Traitors like yourself?"

"It's not really any of your business. How do you know anyway? About the others in the house?" She told him.

"The house elf. He waffles. And really Paige: who am I going to tell?" He asked hollowly. Considering he was only a picture, she could feel the emotions in his voice. She had never really held a conversation with a portrait before; so had no idea as to whether they were all like this. Whether they were all such accurate and real representations of their subjects. Of course he was not as he would be were he alive; for his work for the Death Eaters would have fundamentally changed him. He would have not stayed the same spoiled child he had been to begin with; and in this picture still was; no he would have some real concepts of the world and the darkness in which he had involved himself. Perhaps it was better after all, that he was no longer alive; that his beliefs had not been tested, his innocence taken. For however hard Regulus Black may have tried to deny it, his mother had sheltered him from the truth of the world; and he was naïve. Just as she had once been.

"Probably no one, but it doesn't hurt to be cautious." She said. His eyes narrowed as if he could read her lies and he let out a laugh, it was short, harsh and cold.

"You're here, because you have no where else to go, because like always Paige Callaghan you took too long treading the line. He finally gave up on you clearly." He looked at her "Oh and you felt betrayed, you thought he actually saw something in you, by God I never counted you as stupid. Annoying, blind, boring but never stupid. Considering you come from a family of backstabbing traitors you would think you'd have some idea, but you were obviously as short sighted as always."

"Once again Regulus considering your insistence that you don't remember me, you seem to have such an insight into my life. Although how you manage that when you have none of your own, I can't imagine." It was low of her to use his death as her main staged of insults, but she didn't care "At least I'm still alive Regulus, clearly something you never managed to work out, self preservation was obviously never your strong suit. For example I'm a fully trained witch standing in front of your portrait and unlike the Gryffindors of this house I would have no compunction in destroying every last vestiges of your portrait. And yet for some unknown reason you're choosing to insult me and expecting me to just take it. Perhaps you should look back at your situation."

Regulus seemingly had no reply as he merely glared at Paige in anger and hatred.

"Don't test me Regulus." She shot as she walked to the door "I am and always will be a Slytherin." She said and then walked out of the door. "It just doesn't mean that I'm evil." She whispered.

Not really wanting to spend any longer on the floor with Regulus' portrait, she began to walk down the stairs, momentarily forgetting what it was that had driven her from there to begin with, her mind instead going over everything that had just happened. Regulus was dead; she had to keep reminding herself that. His portrait wasn't real. But that didn't mean his words weren't, as a little voice was saying in the back of her mind. She had never really known Regulus that well; but she had known of him. He had been the idol of quite a few in her year, a perfect son to his Slytherin family and went straight into the Death Eaters after he left school. After his death no one had spoken of him anymore. It wasn't because he had died; it was why he had died that kept people's mouths shut. Just because however he was a coward did not mean he wasn't evil. His words had been harsh and closer to the mark than she would like to admit; of course he was missing major chunks of the story, but those he had deduced were a little too close for comfort.

She was also more shaken than she would like to admit. That was not what she had been expecting to find in that room. To be honest with herself she would probably have preferred another man eating floor. Man eating floors were simple, easy to deal with. They didn't leave her with a dark feeling inside; they didn't force her to fight dirty against a man who had been dead for years. They didn't cause her to question her own decisions or what she should do now. If she really wanted to get rid of the man eating floor she could do, but she'd probably find it much harder to destroy Regulus' portrait. She shivered slightly from both the cold seeping through the hardwood floor, but also from the knowledge that she could do it. It was just a picture, she assured. Just a picture.

She had hardly noticed that she had made it down the six floors, and was walking to the dining room in an almost daze. She didn't notice either that other members of the house were up. It wasn't until she found herself the object of about four people's attention that she made herself pay attention.

"Oh there you are. Remus mentioned you were awake, and I was just contemplating sending someone to fetch you for breakfast. Not that I knew where you were staying." The voice of Mrs Weasley said appearing from the kitchen. Paige had not missed the disapproving glance from Mrs Weasley to Sirius, but she doubted it was because of any knowledge of where she actually was staying and more of the fact that Molly Weasley was unaware of it. Sirius shot her a look as if daring her to say something.

"Oh thank you. You needn't have troubled, I'm sure Sirius would have come and found me" She said her voice soft, her smile faintly mocking as she looked at Sirius. He returned her glare with a look of equal vehemence that she couldn't help but think back to Regulus. Sirius's eyes were so much stronger; there was none of the weakness, of the cowardly need to hide that there was in Regulus, no there was bold, brash intensity and courage. She looked back to Mrs Weasley and didn't miss the look of interest on her face which was quickly replaced at seeing Paige was paying attention again.

"Hmm ok then. Well breakfast will be ready in a few minutes if you would like to eat with us." Paige merely nodded as Mrs Weasley moved back to the kitchen. Paige strolled casually to a seat next to Sirius's her eyes never leaving his. She needed to ask him if he knew about Regulus, there was the selfish Slytherin need to see what would happen, but there was also the safety of The Order to think about.

"I need a word." She hissed, as she took a seat.

"You can have two: Go Away." He muttered back keeping his voice low to not alert the Weasleys sat next to him.

"Sirius, this is serious." Realising her unintended pun she caught his eye and couldn't help but smile; she saw the laughter in his eyes as well, although it was quickly shut down as he realised who he was laughing with.

"Alright." He muttered "Make it quick."

"Not here." She replied looking round warily. It was not for her benefit, but she didn't really think every one in the house needed, especially depending on what Sirius wanted to do.

"Fine." He said angrily, getting up.

He led her to the living room which she had played chess with Ron earlier. The fire was not burning as vivaciously as before, and was more a warm glow. It was welcome as the cold from her feet had seeped to the rest of Paige's body.

"What do you want?" he asked tiredly.

"Did you know?" She asked, returning back to the old Slytherin: don't let them know what you know too quickly.

"I'm not psychic Callaghan, you're going to have to be little more descriptive." He said.

"You surprise me. You; not psychic really?" She replied just as sarcastically.

"Cut the crap. What do you want?"

"On the sixth floor. There was you brother's room." She said.

"So?" he said disgustedly

"His picture Sirius. His picture is up there." She said.

"What Picture?" he asked confused. Clearly Sirius was unaware of the fact that his brother's portrait lay undiscovered on the sixth floor of his parents' house.

"There's a portrait of your brother up there. He can't leave the room apparently, but surprisingly enough he's more than a little bitter." She said.

"Great." He muttered "Another psychopathic family member. I'm sure you and he got along famously." He spat at her.

"Use your brain Sirius. If I'm here it means I'm no longer siding with the people your brother did when the portrait was painted. It means I'm a traitor. Which of course Regulus made no short time in telling me along with listing my many shortcomings." She said.

"He always was a spoilt brat." Sirius said.

"He was everything your parents wanted."

"Just as I was everything they didn't." He finished.

She had never really thought that Sirius would still feel bad about it, but then why wouldn't he? Regulus the favourite son, had got everything whereas Sirius who as far as he could see was standing up for what was right had to face his parents hatred, along with his family's disgrace. It was hard for her to make the decision to come here, to take that step towards what was good; she had not the courage to do that as a child. But Sirius had, and he would have paid for it, though she knew he didn't want her pity.

"Yes and look where it got him." She said remembering back to her own remarks about Regulus' death. Sirius nodded sharply and looked at her, for once there was less hatred, she knew it was only the sadness of having to remember, that despite everything they had still been his family, but she was glad that at least for a moment he could look past his prejudice.

"Look I just thought you should know. I didn't know if you wanted to speak to him or…"

"No." he caught her off his voice harsh "There's no need to dig up the past, if he can't leave his picture he can't cause any damage." He said and then left the room. She knew she had dug up memories that perhaps he had wanted to leave buried and if that was his wish then so be it.

Her mind wandered back to Regulus' room its faded beauty and lost majesty. Back to his portrait and the knowledge that for as long as this house stood, it would hang there unnoticed, undisturbed. She wondered if he would ever get bored of hanging there, of having nowhere to go and no one to talk to apart from a half mad house elf, who she doubted went up there more than once a year. The last remnants of the real Regulus. She shrugged it off; it didn't matter, not really, Regulus was dead nothing could change that. At that a small smirk graced her face; if he was dead he could hardly object to her borrowing his room for a time. A quick cleaning charm and it would be habitable and a silencing charm on his portrait behind the curtain would keep Regulus shut up. She was doing him a favour really; after all he wouldn't want such a beautiful room to go to waste, with the thoughts of a much better nights sleep in mind she walked into the kitchen for breakfast, not even thinking as she took a seat to the left of Sirius.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

The Art of Divination….What A Fun Breakfast Conversation

"Could you pass me the marmalade please?"

Paige jerked from the paper she was reading and looked up to see Hermione.

"What, sorry?" she asked, confused.

"The marmalade." Sirius said irritably "She wants you. To. Pass. Her. The. Marmalade." He spoke slowly and carefully as if talking to a small child "That clear enough for you?"

"No actually perhaps you could speak a little slower? I wasn't sure I caught the word in the middle, the one after: 'the'" she retorted passing the marmalade across to Hermione who was staring at the two wide-eyed. She went back to the paper ignoring Sirius, momentarily pausing to sip her coffee and take a bite out of the buttered toast on the plate in front of her. It was the same paper she had borrowed from Remus earlier, and now had the chance to finish, it had been a while since she had read The Prophet cover to cover and was surprised at the amount of rubbish they managed to fit in its pages.

"How do they manage it?" She muttered.

"What?" one of the Weasleys to Sirius's other side asked.

"In just under a hundred pages of script they've managed to talk about everything from the newest broomstick to the drainage problems in Diagon Alley; and yet they've completely avoided talking about anything important. You know - things like the huge evil that's threatening to kill anyone who can't recite their family for more than six generations? It's ludicrous." It seemed everyone had looked up and was slightly startled by her speech. They were now all staring at her and making her feel a little uncomfortable "Just thought I'd mention it" she muttered, looking back down at the table. She looked up and caught Sirius's eye before she was distracted by a conversation taking place across the table.

"Oh come on Hermione," Ron was saying, "we have weeks. How can you be thinking about homework now?"

"Because, unlike _you_ Ron, I have some sense of responsibility and don't think leaving it to the last minute is going to help."

"Fine but would it hurt you to not talk about for five minutes?"

"I don't know Ron; you were the one who brought it up!"

"I was just wondering...wished I hadn't said anything now," he muttered, the last bit under his breath.

"It's only Divination anyway Ron, it's not important," Hermione said assuredly.

"It is if he was stupid enough to take it," one of the redheaded twins put in.

"What are you talking about George? You took Divination," Ron retorted angrily.

"Hermione's the only one who didn't," Ginny put in.

"I did… I just decided to drop it… It was pointless," Hermione said.

"Well not really," Paige interjected. Hermione shot her a startled look.

"It's not that useful," Paige continued, "but it's pretty easy."

"See Hermione, you're the only one who hates divination," George said with a smirk.

"I never said I particularly liked it, I just said it was easy," Paige clarified. Hermione looked a little insulted, and Ron looked like he was having trouble not laughing.

"Possibly the only subject Hermione ever failed at." Ron said.

"I did not fail!" Hermione shouted indignantly "I just didn't see the point in carrying on something so fundamentally flawed!" She aimed the last comment at Paige.

"You may be right," Paige agreed shrugging, "true seers are rare, which makes divination a subject which can seem pointless at first glance. I certainly agreed with you to begin with, until it turned out I was quite good at it." She smiled reminiscently. "I shouldn't have really been surprised, it was all showmanship, deception; make it look like you know what you're talking about and you can make people believe anything. Don't get me wrong I wasn't a prophetess; in fact I had and still have no idea what the future will bring. That doesn't mean I'm not good at divination."

"But…" Hermione started to say.

"What do you get taught in divination?" She asked, with her smile still in place.

"A load or rubbish about tea leaves and lines on your hand," Hermione said hotly.

"Exactly. You can't teach the gift of seeing the future. You can however teach the gift of making people think you can."

To Paige divination had always been lies. Carefully sculpted and cultivated lies, yes, but lies all the same; and she was glad of it. "It is probably a better gift than true prophecy anyway."

"How do you come to that conclusion?" Remus asked inquisitively.

"Well there are several reasons. Of course the most obvious is that actually seeing the future is a rare gift, and certainly not one I lament the lack of. If you could see the future would you change it? Could you change it? Is the future set in stone? It presents so many questions in itself."

"But the time turner…" Hermione put in.

"A valid point. I have little experience with them myself, but if I have the theory correct they prove that the past can be changed. You can go back in time – not far of course – but the principle is still there. This, of course, should disprove prophecy immediately because you should be able to change it." Hermione nodded clearly interested in Paige's theory. Taking another sip of coffee she continued "Then again, of course, with magic nothing is ever that simple. Often prophecy is self-fulfilling - that's the reason I wouldn't like the gift. If the prophecy hadn't been told to begin with then would the events which led up to its occurrence have happened anyway?" She sighed slightly her smile fading "It's an imprecise gift and one which, if I am not mistaken, would be a great burden at best. It's probably a good thing that it's impossible to teach. Still, the art of reading tea leaves, of being vague about someone's future, you can teach."

"But why would you want to?" Hermione asked.

"Because if you can make someone believe it is their future, then perhaps they too will believe it, and, like our self fulfilling prophecies, you could alter the course of someone else's life. Then again without a true gift you have to be either very good at lying to people or very good at lying to yourself. That I believe is probably why you Miss Granger dislike it, and why I have no trouble with it."

"Why? Because you're good at lying to other people or because you're good at lying to yourself." Ron asked with his mouth full.

"Both." She replied simply finishing her coffee and standing up. Anyone who had ever been in Slytherin would understand. Paige herself had spent many years in denial so that if she tried hard enough she could make herself believe everything was ok. Well she used to be able to make herself believe that. Recently, however, the gift had faded, and the ability to live in her little land of denial had gone.

"Well however enlightening that conversation," Sirius said sarcastically, standing up and facing her, "I have things to do."

"Sure you do." She said fake happily "Well if you want to talk you know where to find me." Sirius returned her glare and stalked out of the room. "You ever get the feeling he doesn't like me?" She asked the remaining members of the room before following him out. Paige had really no idea where her good mood had come from. She was still staying in the house of a man who would probably much prefer to throw her out himself then have her under his roof. She was still part of a group of people who were basically the personification of Gryffindor and most of whom hated anyone who had ever worn the colours green and silver. She had betrayed just under thirty years of everything she had ever known for an extremely uncertain future with a side she wasn't even certain were going to win. She had no family, no home, had been insulted by a guy who had been dead for over thirteen years, and still didn't have any shoes. Still, as she walked along the dark corridor still filled with dust; and a smell that the air freshening spell Mrs Weasley had used could not quite cover up; she was in a good mood.

She heard a humming from a room to the left, and smiled as she recognised Sirius's voice.

"Clearly it's catching," She muttered as she walked past. The fact that Sirius probably hated her didn't seem quite so bad this morning. Perhaps it was because despite how much he may dislike her, may absolutely hate her, he had some loyalty to Dumbledore; and he was not like his brother. He may long to hex her, to curse her, to throw her out, but he wouldn't. He wasn't a Slytherin. Paige had never understood before how much of a blessing this could be. Sure these people were prejudiced against her, but they wouldn't do anything about it. They had to take the moral high ground. Well except for Sirius. He was just cleverer about displaying his hatred. She liked the fact that for once she could accept some things at face value. It didn't stop her looking, of course, for hidden motives, or for deceit in others. It just meant she wasn't as likely to find it.

Still unsure of exactly where she was going she took the first door she saw, and opened it. As far as she was concerned the sixth floor had held enough secrets, and dark magic. She doubted that Sirius or any of the aurors or Gryffindors in the house would have let it fester in the ground floor. The room was clearly a library; and Paige was quickly reminded of their own back home. Or not home, but back where she used to live. The one here, however, was grander, bigger, and the books were in better condition. Other than that, though, it looked just as unused as the one back there had. Still, she could see why. Looking at the titles, the dark volumes were hardly bedtime reading. The room had less dust than she would have thought, though; and while the entire air seemed almost dark; it seemed as if someone did actually spend time in here. A chair by the fire had a book half open on it, and an empty glass stood on the small table next to it. Clearly whoever was in here last liked to read. That and they were obviously pretty untidy – or really bored.

She wandered over and picked up the book keeping hold of the page and reading the title. _Wizardry through the ages- an in depth look at the makings of magic._ No wonder the book was so long, the history of magic had to span thousands of years, and if they wanted to be in depth; then it had to be tens of thousands of pages. She had no idea how exactly the mysterious reader had managed to even get as far through as they had. The print was tiny; and from reading even the first page Paige was certain it was guaranteed to send even the hardiest of readers to sleep. She took the seat and moved the book to the table. Picking up the glass next to it, she took a sniff. Firewhiskey. Well that ruled out over half the members of the household – they were underage. Then again aside from Hermione she could not imagine any of them even beginning to attempt to force their way through that crime against reading.

She put the glass back down lamenting only slightly the fact that it was empty. She sighed; her good mood dissipating slightly. What exactly was she going to do? If she had been told when she was working that she could basically spend months lounging around a house doing nothing she would have jumped at the chance, but now she wanted something to occupy her. She knew it would be dangerous for her to spend too much time outside; but it wasn't as if she was a wanted criminal like Sirius, and Death Eaters were hardly that desperate to have her killed. Then again Dumbledore had said she probably shouldn't go out alone. It made sense, so that she could have back up and be more assured of safety. Unfortunately the major flaw in that plan was finding someone willing to go out with her.

She was so deep in her own thoughts that she nearly jumped a foot in the air when somebody opened the door. She looked up and saw Sirius standing at the door frowning at her. His hair was wet; and clearly he had just been in the shower.

"Why is it wherever I go in this damned house; you're always there?" He asked, annoyed.

"Believe me it's not intentional. I'm not that much of a glutton for punishment." She told him.

"You're in my seat." He said finally scowl still in place. She looked at the chair she was sitting in and then back to the table with the empty glass and half opened book.

"Ah so you're the one punishing yourself with that book. What did you do, kill someone?" She asked jokingly. However his eyes darkened and she realised quickly that she had touched a nerve.

"It's none of your business!" He said angrily.

"I know. But I'm just an annoying bitchy Slytherin remember," She retorted, still sat in the chair.

"Why can't you just leave me alone?" he finally asked tiredly.

It was his tone of the voice that surprised her and made her stand up. Whatever impression she had of Sirius Black this was not it. She had never been all that empathic, but on some levels she and Sirius had more in common than either of them would ever admit. Still she would never have imagined him as someone so resigned and tired. There must have been something important in his past, aside from his brother and his family; but she had only received the basics from Dumbledore – the fact that he had been imprisoned for a crime he didn't commit, and his family troubles (although those she had already known of course – every Slytherin did.) It seemed that as with everything else, there was more to Sirius Black than met the eye. It was disconcerting actually, as Paige would have found it so much easier to hate him if he really was one sided as she had first thought. Then again how could anyone spend twelve years in prison and have it not affect them? A rare flash of insight told her there was something else though – probably something she would never know.

"I already told you it wasn't intentional. But I was being serious about that book," she said her voice deadpan calm.

"I'm sure I'll live," he said, clearly bored.

"I'm not, you might die of boredom. If you're that desperate for something to read you need to shop for some new books," she told him. His face turned bitter and resentful.

"Yes well I'd love to you know, but being a convicted criminal means it's slightly difficult to leave the house," he said angrily. For some reason Paige could not imagine him as someone being that cautious; he seemed the more reckless type, but then again he had friends like Remus and Dumbledore who would all urge him to stay safe and be careful.

"And what a lovely house it is," she muttered sarcastically her mind wandering back to the bathroom.

"Did the bathroom floor really eat your shoes?" He asked, startling Paige with his rapid topic change, clearly this was not someone who was able to concentrate on one thing for more than thirty seconds.

"No I just enjoy walking round in bare feet." She replied. He looked as if he would believe her and she rolled her eyes at the idiocy of most Gryffindors. "Yes it really did eat my shoes along with about four spiders; and probably countless other unfortunate insects and small rodents," she clarified.

"I'm sorry," he muttered resentfully.

"No you're not," she told him.

"You're right, I'm not," he replied.

"Why do you hate me?" It was such a stupid question, such a ridiculous thing to ask the man, but for some reason Paige had an urge to know. She wanted to know if he really believed that just because she had once sported the colours silver and green and came from a pureblood family – as he did that it made her evil. She wanted to know if there was something about her personally that he hated, or if there was something she had done that made him hate her for more than just being a Slytherin.

Unfortunately however Sirius was stopped from giving his answer as the door swung open once again. Both Paige and Sirius turned to the intruder on reflex; they saw an extremely worried Remus looking at them both.

"What is it?" Sirius asked before Paige could speak.

"It's Harry." Remus said.

"What's Harry?" Paige asked on reflex. She could have nearly hit herself at the completely derisive look Sirius gave her as if she was just something he had picked up off of his shoe. Remus luckily chose to ignore both Paige's stupid response and Sirius disgusted look.

"There were Dementors," Remus said.

"At Privet Drive?" Sirius said already heading for the door "Is Harry okay?"

"He's fine, but he had to use a patronus to ward off the Dementors," Remus told him.

"But he's underage," Sirius spluttered.

"So what?" Paige put in, "I'm pretty sure if you've got Dementors attacking you, you don't give a damn if you're legally allowed to fight back."

"Well yes," Sirius sneered, "but the ministry are just waiting for an excuse to discredit him even more. He might get arrested."

"That's a pretty harsh punishment for underage magic in a clearly self defensive circumstance," Paige said with a doubtful look.

"Sirius is right. After what happened last year, Fudge wants Harry out of the picture," Remus said his eyes almost angry "It's like you said earlier Paige about The Prophet completely ignoring the important things. The ministry doesn't believe it so they don't want anyone else to either."

"So they're willing to discredit a boy who is a considered a national hero by so many?" Paige asked. "And they're meant to be the good guys," She muttered.

"Fudge isn't evil. He's just blind and afraid," another voice said. Tonks moved through the doorway behind Remus. Her hair was now a shade of purple and was long and curly; she was dressed in muggle fashion but wearing a worried expression.

"Hardly an excuse for dismissing the biggest threat to the wizarding world in years," Paige replied.

"Probably not," Remus admitted "but it's easier to close your eyes to things you don't want to see than to admit they're there and you don't know how to deal with them."

Paige knew every word Remus spoke was true; it was a mantra she had lived by for over twenty years of her life. Close your eyes and pretend you don't see; maybe then it will go away and not be real.

"Unfortunately I know first hand that way of dealing with things like that tends to catch up on you."

"And probably will." Remus said gravely "But whilst it's not the Order are trying to do something about."

"We're holding a meeting now about what to do about Harry," Tonks said "I was told to come get you all."

"What to do about Harry?" Sirius asked, as if he couldn't believe it. All three members of the room turned to look at him "We have to go get him! He's in danger, they might come back!" Sirius almost shouted "Why are you looking at me like that? He needs to be protected."

"And he will be Sirius," Remus said trying to diffuse the situation. Paige however had no time to deal with his attitude.

"Think with your head Sirius, not with your heart," she said harshly.

"Yes because that worked out so well for you," he retorted angrily "no friends, having to stay under the roof of people who can't stand you, oh yes I can see where not having a heart will get me."

"An escaped convict staying in the house of his dead parents, angry at the world because it's not going his way. Thinking with your emotions so blindly on your sleeve could get you killed. It could get someone else killed," she said callously.

Without even a look back at Sirius's fuming face she walked out of the room. To be honest she did slightly agree with Sirius. Having a meeting about the situation wasn't exactly a quick fire course of action. It didn't really give her as much faith as she would have liked in the side that was preparing to fight one of the darkest wizards of all time. "Everything done by committee," she mumbled as she walked into the room and took her seat "I really hate politics."


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

I Even Amaze Myself at Times

It had been three days since the meeting about what to do about Harry, and Paige was now at breaking point. Sirius had been the most irritable person over the past few days – she had only narrowly avoided nearly a dozen different curses and hexes sent her way, Sirius having deciding she made good target practice. She had been shouted at no fewer than seven times, for things as inane as standing around the wrong way, or sitting in the wrong chair. She assumed he normally hated her, but the past few days tension had been stretched even further between them. Of course she had shouted back, and called Sirius a number of things which had Mrs Weasley giving her a lecture about proper conduct while living in a house occupied by children. Nobody seemed to care that Paige was taking the brunt of Sirius's anger, and to see Paige fleeing a room was now a common sight.

She had taken to hiding on the sixth floor but at times it still gave her the creeps. Regulus's collection of books whilst interesting were rather narrow in their subject area; and when he was awake she could almost feel the hatred in the air thrumming despite the fact that he couldn't speak. She could ignore it, but generally she preferred arguing with his living older brother. The sixth floor had continued to spring surprises in the way of spells and magic left festering for years, Regulus's room seemed the only safe haven; and even then the door had taken to trying to slam itself onto her. All in all Paige was not in the best of moods.

The meeting had resulted in more than a few arguments about what step to take next. Some supported Sirius's shoot first ask questions later theory; and wanted to go in wands blazing and take Harry away from the muggles bringing him back here. Others were more cautious and rational. Paige had managed to start an argument with Sirius because she had focused more on the Dementors than on Harry's safety. It had been nothing personal; but she had never met the boy, and she was pretty sure that if everything everyone claimed he had done was true then he was perfectly capable of taking care of himself. Very few other Order members seemed willing to give him any credit for his past acts – they seemed to believe him to be helpless. When Sirius had received an owl along with Hermione and Ron there had been even more uproar. It had only fuelled Sirius's overprotective manner; but had given Paige an insight into how much they were clearly leaving the boy in the dark. Of course it was for everyone's safety but if she was him she'd be more than annoyed.

The Dementors themselves posed such a big question for Paige. You could jump to the conclusion that it was the work of the Dark Lord's forces; but there had been no sign as of yet that the Dementors were under his control. She had no doubt that they would be eventually – something that feeds off the happiness in a person's soul would thrive in a world ruled by someone as purely malevolent as the Dark Lord, but there was no reason to believe that it had yet happened. So if it wasn't the case then who else could have sent them? Of course there was a small possibility that they were merely rogue and acting of their own accord, but they were hardly creatures prone to holding grudges so they wouldn't have any real reason to be in Privet Drive. The last, and in Paige's mind, one of the darkest options was that the Dementors were still under the control of the ministry and it had been someone there that had ordered the attack against the nation's hero. It made little sense, other than corresponding with the idea of the ministry being out to get him, but who would go to that much trouble? Who would do something so drastic? Who had the power to pull those strings? Paige was unsure as she knew little about the ministry itself and her inquiries had not really been met with open arms.

"_It couldn't be Fudge." She muttered under her breath. It didn't add up that it might be the minister himself. From what she could tell the man was a bumbling idiot, but he would hardly have to guts to take such an action, and even if he did he would not have the wit to think up that plan._

"_What isn't Fudge?" Tonks asked._

"_Who ordered the attack," Paige replied absentmindedly_

"_Well obviously," Tonks snorted "If you're going to go through the entire population of who it wasn't we could be here a while. You may as well knock off the ministry anyway, I don't know why you're starting with them." _

"_Because it makes the most sense," Paige said clearly annoyed at Tonks' attitude._

"_Why would the ministry order an attack on Harry?" Arthur Weasley asked._

"_Why Indeed?" Paige muttered, before looking up, "I'm not saying it is the ministry I'm just saying it is most likely to be someone in the ministry."_

"_Why? Who says it isn't You know who?" Arthur asked. _

"_As far as I'm aware the Dementors are not yet under his command," she replied. To which of course Sirius had to add his two pence worth._

"_You of course would be the expert on his movements," Sirius muttered._

"_Oh so you're ready to believe instant conspiracy on my part but if I suggest it on the part of your precious ministry you all look at me like I'm mad," she said angrily._

"_We're not saying anything about you," Remus said tiredly with a pointed glare at Sirius. "It just doesn't seem like a logical move on the part of the ministry."_

"_Well actually, I'm not so sure. You said yourself that they might even try and arrest him even for a case of such obvious self defence. If they're that willing to get to him then there is very probably someone within the ministry ranks with the mind and means to pull it off," Paige tried to explain. Everyone still looked a little doubtful – well most of the ministry workers themselves did. Although they may be losing faith in the ministry and its ability to deal with problems and crisis they were not quite ready to believe conspiracy and deliberate wrongdoings, rather than wrongdoings by inaction. _

"_What does this matter?" Sirius asked angrily, effectively cutting off the discussion and returning it back to Harry._

Dumbledore had arrived and basically taken charge. Paige, as of yet, had had no chance to look into her theory, but she wasn't quite ready to abandon it. Harry had a hearing with the Ministry of Magic and Dumbledore had managed to stop the immediate destruction of his wand and an arrest. Paige was hoping she would manage to get herself tagging along on that journey. It would give her a good opportunity to snoop at the ministry. Also a trip into muggle London would probably get her more shoes; she had sent an owl order out yesterday for a new pair, and they had arrived this morning; but shoes were the one thing muggles could make much better than wizards could.

She had already managed to convince people that she should go along for this rescue mission to Privet Drive which would take place tonight. It had only added insult to injury for Sirius who had wanted more than anything to go for himself – his convicted criminal status, unfortunately meant he couldn't leave the house. Sirius had argued heavily against her going saying she was more likely to try and kill Harry than save him, resulting in another argument. It seemed to other members of the house that all Sirius and Paige ever did was argue; and for the moment it was true. Paige had been just praying for the day that they could prove to Sirius that Harry was fine; and he could return to his cold indifference of her. It seemed odd that she was lamenting times previous, but at least then she got brief glimpses of a Sirius that didn't hate her. In the state he was in all he saw when he looked at her was someone he could shout at with no fear of reprisal.

For the moment she was following her typical path of avoidance. Tonks had told her at breakfast that morning that they would be leaving early evening; and that she would need to get hold of a broomstick. Paige had been slightly panicked at that and pointedly commented that if Tonks had bothered to give her some more advanced warning then it would have made things a little easier. Tonks, of course, had merely ignored her. It was lucky for Paige that whilst her flying was merely adequate, Regulus had been on the Quidditch team. His broom was outdated but in good condition and Paige had no doubt it would do the job just fine. She hadn't bothered to talk to his portrait since their previous conversation and wasn't about to start now. She had checked the broom for hexes and found to her surprise that it had none. Then again why would Regulus have any reason to hex his own broom?

She felt no guilt as she picked up the dead man's broom from his room. He was dead; what use would he have of it now? He had made his own decisions and paid for it with his life, Paige had no reason to give him respect. The only feelings she felt for him were contempt. He had not been strong enough to live by his decisions and he had made bad ones. Strangely though Paige felt contempt at him for the pain she saw in Sirius's eyes every time his eyes swept the bottom of the tapestry pausing momentarily on the gold embroidered name of his brother. For the pain in his eyes the night she had told him of the portrait and his words about his perfect favourite younger brother. If she had no other reason to hate him; she would hate him just for that. Perhaps she was just too quick to hate people.

Brushing off her thoughts she tied up her long hair. If they were flying it would merely get in the way. She put on her new shoes, frowning at the feel of them against her bare feet. Over the past few days she had got used to the feel of the cold wood against her feet, and it felt oddly disconcerting to only feel the soft fabric. Climbing from the four poster bed her eyes shot up to the ceiling and to the sky outside. The moon could be seen as a crescent and stars twinkled where they were not shrouded by clouds. Cloud cover would probably be good if they didn't want to be seen, but it would be bloody cold outside. She grabbed her cloak fastening it and walked out of the room, carefully taking a sidestep left as she passed the part of the hall that made you stick to the floor. Not pausing she took the stairs two at a time and made her way to the ground floor.

She was going to head straight for the kitchen, from which she knew the members leaving were gathering before apparating to Privet Drive. A light shone from under the door of the library though, making her pause. It could be anyone – Hermione doing homework, or the twins working on some nefarious scheme or another. Still, she walked forward and pushed open the door regardless. The sight that met her eyes was strange and oddly sad. Sirius sat in the same chair he had days previous, what looked to be a glass of firewhiskey at his side, but this time, instead of a thick volume of the most boring prose ever written, he was staring into what appeared to be a photo frame. His eyes were glued to the image in front of him his long hair untamed and falling about his face. He didn't even notice her arrival.

Paige was unsure what to say, if anything. She was contemplating leaving – hoping he didn't notice anything, when he looked up. For once there was no hatred, no anger, no veiled emotions that he would let no one see. There was simply sadness. It was a stark contrast to the look she was so used to in his eyes. Knowing that if he had no mean comments to shoot at her, no angry accusations then now was probably not a time he wished to see her, she walked backwards out of the room. Before she did so, however, her eyes caught sight of the picture in his hand.

A beautiful woman stood smiling and laughing, flame red hair and bright green eyes made her look full of life, whilst a smiling man next to her with brown hair, glasses and hazel eyes held a young child no more than a year old. Behind them stood a much younger Remus – though even then, surprisingly, he had that tired look in his amber eyes – smiling at the woman and man. What caught her eyes the most, however, was the other in the picture. Her eyes were instantly drawn to a younger Sirius. The same black hair and deep grey eyes gave a roguishly handsome look that even now with his years in Azkaban Paige could see. She had no doubt that in his youth the girls had fallen at his feet, and knowing the man before her he had basked in it. The years had shown him the harsh realities of life, and now a deeper and more haunted look could be seen in his grey eyes which in the photo there was little sign of. It showed a man with his friends; friends that he was clearly close to, who he valued more than anything else since he chose not to recognise his family. However there was one other in the picture that had Paige not been looking she would have paid very little attention to. A small mousey looking man stood in the picture on Sirius's right looking nervously at the other members in the photo. Paige was unsure as to whom he was, but he seemed almost detached from the picture of friendship the other four made. Paige wondered what had happened to him and the woman and man, they were not in the order. She supposed perhaps they were dead.

Moving into the kitchen to join the other assembling members Paige's mind was still on the photo and on Sirius. He had been a Gryffindor so clearly friendships were stronger than they ever were in Slytherin; nobody trusted the Callaghan's anyway; and that reputation had permeated into her schooling.

"You ready?" The gruff voice of Alistair Moody asked as she walked in.

"Hmmm….Oh yes. Sorry I was just thinking," Paige said after taking several moments to reply.

"Got to be a new experience," Tonks muttered quietly but not quietly enough for Paige not to hear.

"Oh yes very funny," Paige replied bitterly. Tonks had no chance to reply as Paige apparated after Moody.

They had apparated straight into the Dursleys' living room. Paige took the several moments waiting for other members to look around. It was clearly a muggle living room, floral wallpaper and curtains along with pristine furniture made an attempt to make the room look cosy. Several muggle appliances the use of which Paige had no idea were scattered around. A black box stood to the left of a fireplace with another appliance in it, whilst a white object with a wire coming from it stood on a table next to the armchair. Although not sharing in the ideals of many of her house that muggles were vermin that needed to be exterminated, Paige had never felt any sort of interest in them. She knew virtually nothing about them, except that which they taught at school and the little she had picked up from trips into muggle London. Her ignorance on the subject had never really bothered her before, as it was not something she had ever found the need to know.

Once everyone was assembled people began to follow the plan that had been made the day before. Walking towards the stairs Paige winced as a large clatter behind her was loud enough to alert anyone to their presence. It was lucky there was only Harry in the house, but as she turned to perpetrator she briefly wondered how the clumsy witch before her ever made it through auror training.

"Could you have made any more noise?" Paige hissed at her, payback for Tonks' earlier comment. Tonks' had the decency to look a little embarrassed as Moody's magical eye turned to her. Clearly Tonks' inelegance had alerted the house's occupant to their presence as a sound of footsteps made Paige aware of someone making their way towards them.

Paige stared inquisitively up the stairs as the boy stared down at them shocked. Green eyes and unruly dark brown hair had Paige's brow furrowing as she worked to figure out where she had seen those same eyes before. Moody told the boy to lower his wand, and it seemed Harry recognised the voice along with that of Remus Lupin, as he did so.

"He looks exactly like James." Kingsley Shacklebolt said. It was then that it finally dawned on Paige, the people in Sirius's picture the red haired woman and the messy haired man, they were Harry Potter's parents: Lily and James Potter. She now understood more of Sirius's mood; she had never really connected the dots before, why Sirius was Harry's godfather. Thinking on it now she had been an idiot, of course Sirius had to have been friends with Harry's parents, with Harry's dead parents. The other man though, the brown haired one, Paige's mind sought back to everything she knew about the night of Voldemort's fall. It was during Paige's schooling she had been fourth year, no third. Sirius had gone to Azkaban for his supposed murder of twelve muggles, and one wizard: Peter Pettigrew. The man had got an Order of Merlin and his mention in the incident had been small, which was probably why Paige could only remember a little of it. But if Sirius was innocent where did this man fall in the great scheme of things?

They had moved into the kitchen as Paige thought on, she was half listening to the conversation, the other half thinking back to Sirius in the library. His sad reminiscent look. Then again if two of his best friends were dead and he had spent twelve years in prison unable to look after his godchild then it was probably understandable. Remus was starting to introduce people and Paige tuned back in, her grey eyes moving to the boy.

"And that is Paige Callaghan." Remus said. Harry's eyes finally came to rest on her. Paige got the feeling that Harry was uncomfortable with everyone looking at him – an understandable feeling. Feeling uncommonly generous she turned her eyes to the ceiling with a smile that got some very odd looks from fellow order members.

"What?" She asked innocently "It's a very nice ceiling." Sturgis Podmore who was stood to her left shuffled a bit further away giving her a worried look, however as she turned her eyes back to Harry she caught his eyes and saw him give a small smile.

"Nice to meet you by the way Harry," she said, her eyes still trained on the ceiling.

"You too," he replied with a small smile.

Luckily for them both Moody took it upon himself to make himself the centre of attention as he removed his eye and asked for a glass of water.

"Very _clean _aren't they these muggles?" Tonks said making conversation. She had a point however, all the surfaces seemed spotless. It was a touch disconcerting, as both the Callaghan household and Grimmauld place seemed to be an attraction for dust and dirt. Everyone however seemed to be put on edge as Harry mentioned Voldemort, Paige sensing the change in mood begin to whistle to herself quietly once again gaining her odd looks.

"Shut up," Moody hissed at her. Paige smile still firmly in place stopped whistling.

When the subject came around to packing and waiting for the signal, Paige decided she wanted to volunteer.

"I'll help too," Paige said after Tonks.

"Surely we don't need another," Tonks replied through gritted teeth.

"Ok," Paige agreed amiably a devious glint in her eye as she retuned to whistling.

"Let her go." Moody growled. Remus shot her a tired look to which she just replied with a trademark Slytherin smirk and followed after Tonks and Harry up the stairs.

Harry's room was certainly much messier than the rest of the house and the abundance of magical books and objects made Paige feel much more at ease. Listening faintly to Tonks' comments about the room and about being a metamorphagus Paige settled herself on Harry's bed. Paige stifled a scoff at Tonks' comment about failing stealth and concealment. It wasn't surprising really with the woman being the biggest klutz around.

"… Did you hear me break that plate downstairs?" Tonks finished.

"She made enough noise to wake the dead." Paige muttered earning her a glare from Tonks.

"So what do you do?" Harry said turning his attention to her.

"Make a nuisance of herself mostly," Tonks muttered and Paige immaturely stuck her tongue out at the woman.

"Well I'm pretty much unemployed at the moment. Through no fault of my own of course," she assured him "On the run myself I suppose," she added thinking it made her life sound much more interesting.

Harry shot a glance at Tonks, who had her eyebrow raised at Paige. "Of course, it's nowhere _near _as interesting as being an auror for the _ministry_…" She said the word ministry with so much derision that even Tonks who was at the moment magically packing Harry's things caused her wand to drop the book she was levitating with a clunk. "But it has its perks..." She seemed to think about it for a moment "Strike that; no it doesn't. Living with a tetchy man for the summer is not a perk."

"Right," Harry said with a bemused smile.

"Ignore her," Tonks said, "she talks a load of rubbish." Paige merely carried on smiling as she watched Tonks try and fail to get Harry's packing in some form of neat order.

"Need a hand with that?" Paige asked.

"No." Tonks answered shortly with one last flick of her wand which only made a sock on the top do a pathetic sort of flop. "Doesn't matter, it's all in." Paige just gave her a look as if to say 'well if that's what you want.' Paige knew she was being infuriating and probably a bit of a bitch, but she didn't really care,

Tonks had made it quite clear from the beginning that she thought Paige no better than many she hunted. There was, however, always the sense that as Tonks had been at school a similar time to her; she knew some of the things that Paige had done as a Slytherin. Of course it had been just after the Dark Lord's fall so things were less tense but the rivalry between Slytherin and Gryffindor never faltered, and the attempts to get at each other never really got much more original.

Tonks was checking Harry had got everything as Paige picked herself up off the bed lazily.

"Wow a Firebolt." Tonks said her voice childlike. Paige's eyes involuntarily strayed to the broomstick at Harry's side, true it was very pretty but with Paige's lack of knowledge on brooms she had no idea what was making Tonks so worked up. Regulus's broom which whilst in good condition was probably outclassed by even Tonks' comet two sixty which she didn't seem all that enamoured with. Paige couldn't care less; it was a broom; it flew, she could probably sweep the floor with it, but other than that what else did she need?

They headed downstairs Harry's luggage in tow. Paige was not particularly looking forward to flying to London and to flying to Grimmauld place. Whilst it was true it was not particularly far; the late nights and high altitudes meant that it would be cold. Paige listened half heartedly as Moody outlined the plan once again; she had already heard it half a dozen times, but she supposed it was for Harry's benefit. Paige already knew she was not trusted with any of the important jobs and merely had to circle Harry. In case of attack basically those flying around him would be more likely to delay their attackers by getting in the way.

The flight was just as Paige suspected exceedingly dull and exceedingly cold. Her cloak was wrapped tight around her as she circled Harry, but the ends still whipped in the wind. Her breath left a mist in the air and her fingers were frozen to the broom handle. It seemed however she was not the only one who had this problem as Tonks shouted angrily at Moody for making them take yet another diversion. Paige was beginning to think it would be lucky if she were able to thaw out and detach her hands from the broom even on landing.

They eventually landed in the square outside of Grimmauld place, in the dark of the London street. Harry was shown a piece of paper which was quickly burnt and they finally traipsed inside. Paige was shivering and couldn't help but bite back a groan as she realised they had an order meeting before she go shower and to bed. As she cast a warming spell and took her seat around the table; she winced as she heard a familiar voice raised in anger; and for once it wasn't Sirius. Harry's voice could be heard from here and there had to be floors between them. Well she had known there were going to be fireworks.

Paige only hoped this meeting would not be as drawn out as the last. Dejectedly she turned her head to Dumbledore as he started to speak. There was one consolation at least as she caught sight of Sirius. Maybe now Harry was here, he wouldn't be such a miserable git all summer.


	6. Chapter 6

**AN**

Many thanks to the reviewers from all the chapters; please guys if you're reading this just tell me what you think; good or bad. Also thanks again to my Beta; who despairs over my terrible grammar and punctuation.

Disclaimer: I obviously don't own HP or any of the characters and places you may recognise.

**Chapter 6**

**The Ghosts That Haunt Us**

Things were, for once, rather uneventful. Paige had had nearly an entire week without being hexed by Sirius, having to listen to shouts from Harry or hearing lectures from Mrs Weasley. Of course it was probably the calm before the storm. Sirius had taken to cold civility with her ever since Harry had said some things to his godfather about his apparent treatment of her. It had been nice of Harry to jump to her defence, and it had shown her that he was clearly a better person than Sirius. Upon finding out she was a Slytherin Harry had neither ignored her nor looked disgusted as she had expected. He had been a little wary, but after a while began to treat her just as he had before.

To say Paige was comfortable with the situation was a lie. However much she may not want to admit it she had spent so long living the life of a Slytherin, trying to adjust in a household predominantly made up of Gryffindors was hard. There were things that were too ingrained for Paige to be able to change, and things that she would never want to. Although she knew on most accounts it was unintentional, she always get the feeling that she was meant to feel ashamed of being a Slytherin. And she wasn't. She had done what she had to at school, she had looked out for herself, and yes, it may have been cowardly, but at the time it had seemed to be the only option. Paige didn't want to have to regret that as well.

It had all been so confusing at the beginning, and the lull in the general chaos that was life at Grimmauld Place had given her some time to be reflective. Snape had yet to return from whatever top secret mission he was on, so she was saved from having to relive everything. Still she could not stop her mind dwelling on the past whatever she did. She was not however the only one who was haunted by their own personal ghosts. With Harry's presence Sirius was more cheerful in many ways, but when Harry was not directly conversing with Sirius, Paige saw the look in his eyes. Harry was a sharp reminder of exactly what it was that Sirius had lost.

Paige did not know what it was like to have a best friend. It was probably a good thing, because if the pain in Sirius's eyes was anything to go by then she would not want to have to go through the pain of losing them. Her thoughts had returned to family as they so often did and she often found herself wondering just how the Callaghan household was going. Her nephew would be going to Hogwarts this year; she had no doubt he was just another faceless Slytherin in the making. Maybe though, he would be like her maybe he would realise in the future that the easiest route wasn't always the right one. Then again maybe not – after all he was a Callaghan.

Paige knew that Harry's hearing was this morning and she had dressed appropriately. Muggle clothes which Hermione had found for her were rather odd, but with Harry with them, the only way to get to the ministry was via Muggle London. To Paige's surprise, Sirius had put up little argument on her going with them to the ministry. Moody had said it was not such a bad idea to have someone other than Arthur walk with the boy, and as Paige had pointed out, she had a couple of uncles who worked in the ministry, so she had a valid reason to be there if needed. No one, it seemed, had brought up any concerns to Paige's safety, but as Paige had reasoned there wasn't really that many. It wasn't as if Death Eaters frequented the ministry that often, and if they did they did not yet know of her defection from what they believed to be the right side.

Paige had been sitting in the kitchen since just after five that morning: her sleep interrupted by dreams she seemed unable to dislodge. She was sat once more at the kitchen table, Prophet in her hands and a cup of coffee by her side. She had read the Prophet religiously for the past few weeks, just so she could scoff at how ridiculous it all was. If you looked closely, however, there were mentions, if brief, of strange goings on – things that, if you weren't looking for them you would have completely ignored. Paige's naturally paranoid mind had picked up on them – especially since she was paying careful attention. Of course the ministry would never accredit what they reported to anything even remotely out of the ordinary. They were sticking to their 'close your eyes and hope it isn't happening' tactic.

She looked up as Harry, still bleary eyed from sleep made his way down. It was half past five and Paige was not the only one already up. Harry looked more than a little surprised to see herself, Mr and Mrs Weasley, and with Sirius, Lupin and Tonks all awake. She merely watched as the boy tried to force his breakfast down.

"I wouldn't even bother if I were you," she told him, folding up her paper and standing up. Mrs Weasley gave her a disapproving glare to which Paige merely rolled her eyes. The only people who were ever in Molly Weasley's bad books more than Paige were Sirius and Mundungus Fletcher.

"We should be going." Mr Weasley said standing up. Harry followed quickly, dropping his toast and jumping to his feet. Everyone wished Harry luck and all three trudged past Mrs Black's portrait and out of the door.

Paige followed uncomfortably behind Mr Weasley and Harry, feeling decidedly out of place. She disliked muggle clothing, it made her feel very odd and out of place. The shirt and jeans Hermione had found were comfortable, but Paige had looked in the mirror after putting them on and hadn't recognised herself. She already knew when she got to the ministry she would need to transfigure them to robes, otherwise any pretence of her still being of the same opinions she had been several years ago would go out the window. And if, like she planned, she went to visit her Uncle she would need all the deception she could get. As they boarded the underground train Paige's discomfort only increased. She didn't like crowds and the train packed full of muggle commuters was even worse. She was way out of her depth. Harry it seemed had noticed her unease as he tried to give her a reassuring smile. It would have probably worked better had the young man not worn the face of someone condemned to death.

As they walked through London Paige tried to ease back into her old façade. She would need to cold and aloof Slytherin; the one who believed even her own family were beneath her. As they reached a rectangular red box Paige had no idea of the function of Mr Weasley ushered them inside. It was an extremely tight squeeze Paige's back was pressed against one side; although Harry seemed to have it worst off pressed against some type of appliance that Mr Weasley was fiddling with. He pressed some buttons with numbers on and then picked up part of it and spoke to it. Paige was more than a little confused but she assumed as Mr Weasley worked here he knew what he was doing.

"Paige," Mr Weasley hissed passing her the appliance.

"Welcome to the Ministry of Magic. Please state your name and business." Paige was momentarily nonplussed as to where the mystery voice had come from but she had seen Mr Weasley talk into the thing that the voice had spoken from so she did the same.

"Paige Callaghan. Just Visiting," she told the appliance unsure what else to say. The voice then told her to take her badge and pin it to her robes. Paige looked around for what the voice was talking about but stopped as Harry passed a small badge with _Paige Callaghan, Visitor_ emblazoned on the front. The voice then spoke again asking the visitors to the ministry to be ready to submit their wands for registration with security. Paige shrugged but didn't attach her badge yet; instead she pulled out her wand and whispered the words to transfigure her clothes. Feeling instantly more comfortable in a deep set of viridian green robes the same colour as the shirt she had been wearing, she pinned her badge to the front and kept hold of her wand. As the box shuddered Paige's elbow collided with the side and with a muttered curse she tried to shift into a more comfortable position. Harry smiled at her predicament.

"At least someone is finding this funny," she muttered under her breath as the box sank beneath the pavement.

The voice wished them a pleasant day as the box came to a stop and the door sprang open. The ministry was bustling with wizards and witches none of whom even gave them a glance. Surprisingly considering Paige had two family members who worked here and all the commotion that the Callaghan family presented for the ministry itself, she had never been here before. Paige looked in disgust at the fountain at the end of the room. It was clearly gold and worth more money than the entire Callaghan fortune. She had no doubt that had her rather unintelligent but nonetheless ambitious brother known if its presence he would already be concocting plans to try and steal it out from under the ministry's nose.

Paige followed Harry and Mr Weasley as they joined the queue of witches and wizards winding through the hall. As they passed the fountain Paige's eyes caught the sickles and knuts at the bottom – yes that would definitely have Damien trying to grab it. Damien had actually been Paige's favourite sibling as a child – being one out of five meant she was perfectly entitled to have favourites. Damien was a Callaghan through and through, when it came down to it, he was a petty crook and he always had been. At Hogwarts he had been infamous for being a conman and the most untrustworthy boy ever to pass through the school's doors. Still, Paige knew, despite his reputation, the cunning attributed to him was entirely fictional. That was why Paige had liked Damien. He had been easy to understand, his motives were never complex, and he had been one of the few Callaghans with whom Paige could actually hold a conversation. Granted the boy wasn't bright – he had been in and out of Azkaban ever since leaving school. At the moment he was serving a two year sentence for activities involving some highly dangerous and certainly illegal magical creatures.

Paige stood behind Harry as they approached the security desk. She was not openly showing she was with them, as earlier agreed, although she wasn't really important enough to be noticed anyway. Most people's attention was fixed on Harry. Paige watched Harry and Arthur depart with a nod to Arthur and a whisper that she would catch up with them later.

"Wand." The man at the desk said in a bored tone. She passed over her dark wood wand and waited impatiently as he put it on a set of scales.

"Eight and a half inches. Dragon Heartstring. Been in use nineteen years." he said still bored.

"Yes." She replied. He put the paper on the spike passed her the wand and she walked off.

Paige followed the crowd and joined a group of them behind the grills. She was unsure as to exactly which floor she needed to be on. She knew that Uncle Sebastian worked in the department of magical accidents and catastrophes. It wasn't anything major though – he was some office worker for the magic reversal squad. Uncle Gabriel on the other hand, he was the one she wanted to see, he was on her mother's side of the family. Not a Callaghan at all. She was pretty sure he worked in the auror office. The Callaghans never spoke of him. Her mother had been forbidden from mentioning him inside the Callaghan household. As far as they were concerned he did not even exist.

Paige had taken the first step away from everything her family believed in when she contacted Gabriel. She had never mentioned to Tonks, or Moody that she already had close ties with someone in the auror office. Both she and Gabriel knew it was dangerous for them to acknowledge each other. If Paige wanted to keep herself and him safe she couldn't let it be known that she and Gabriel were related. They did not look alike, for Paige had inherited most of the Callaghan genes, and even her mother looked little like her brother. Gabriel was blonde for one thing and had blue eyes neither of which Paige had inherited.

She knew it was a risk, and it would be much safer to go and see Uncle Sebastian, who was as corrupt as they came. She knew that with people like him working for the ministry there would be many more capable of being bribed, blackmailed and scared into doing things. Paige had been unused to spending so much time with the sorts of people in Grimmauld place as she was so used to people like the Callaghans, the pureblood families like the Notts, or to the sorts of people who frequented Knockturn Alley and sold things with dubious origins and suspicious bloodstains. She was used to spending time with people like herself. Meeting Uncle Gabriel had been a shock. He was not a Callaghan and it showed. He had devoted his life to fight against people like the Callaghans, people like she used to be.

As she got out on the second floor she looked around carefully. The place was not what she had been expecting. It looked nothing resembling of the splendour of the entrance hall. Then again she supposed the ministry budget for this floor did not go on decorating. Paige knew that she needed to look like she was meant to be here, so, hiding her badge in the folds of her robes she walked through the rows of cubicles with purpose picking up a stack of paper from the floor as she passed. She surreptitiously looked into the cubicles for any sign of her uncle's blonde hair. The cubicles were all filled with newspaper articles and photographs, and Paige needn't have worried as many of them were empty.

She got towards the end of the corridor still without any sign of her uncle. That was until she bumped straight into someone, her stolen papers falling on the floor.

"Oh I'm so sorry," she said, taking the guise of bumbling office assistant, "I wasn't looking where…" As she lifted her head she caught sight of very familiar careworn blue eyes. Like many of the other aurors Gabriel had scars from his profession – a paper thin one cut across his left eyebrow. His right hand was missing two fingers.

"Paige what are you doing here?" He hissed as he helped her pick up the papers.

"Just came for a visit. Not happy to see me?" She asked knowing she was playing a dangerous game. To say Gabriel had been happy to hear from her those years ago would have been a lie. He grudgingly accepted her correspondence, but hardly with open arms. Just as the Callaghans refused to acknowledge him so he refused to accept that he was in any way even slightly related to them.

"You shouldn't be here," he told her.

"Why not? I'm not doing anything wrong," she replied. She sighed as Gabriel grabbed her arm and dragged her into a room quickly shutting the door. She looked around before raising her eyebrow at Gabriel.

"A closet?" She asked.

"No one can see you talking to me," he told her, almost angrily.

"A touch of the paranoia creeping in, in your old age?" She asked.

"Paige this is no time for jokes. What do you want?"

"Can't I just visit my favourite uncle?" She asked faux sweetly.

"No. I know you Paige. You don't do anything without an underlying motive," he said.

"Everyone's so quick to judge," she muttered, "fine. I have a couple of questions."

"And why on earth should I answer them?" he asked her.

"If you don't want everyone here to know you're related to me then you'd better," she replied. She felt a bit guilty at blackmailing him like that, but it was only a couple of questions and the answers would be going to a good cause.

"Fine," He said through gritted teeth "If I wasn't your uncle I'd…"

"What Gabriel… Curse me? Hex me? We both know you won't do that," Paige said. She hated the sneer in her voice but it was almost natural. Gabriel was a good man and he didn't deserve this; but what else could she do? She wanted to look into her suspicions, to see how the ministry was looking at things.

"Fine." He said again "Ask."

"Okay. Is Fudge truly ignorant to the threat from the Dark Lord?" She asked.

"He doesn't believe Dumbledore or Harry Potter if that's what you mean," he told her.

"So is he doing anything about it?" Paige asked. She saw Gabriel hesitate and knew he was worried about what Paige was going to do with the information.

"Gabriel." She said her voice uncharacteristically sincere "I'm not going to use what you tell me against you. Or for anything bad. It will never get back to anyone who would use it for evil."

"How can I trust you? You're one of them. You're just a step away from the people I'm charged with bringing in."

Paige winced at his accusations. Several months ago he would have been exactly right, she was the sort of person he brought in; she had been the sort of person he fought against.

"Not any more." She told him.

Gabriel still looked untrusting.

"No I can't do this," he said angrily, "I don't care what you tell them. I'm a good man Paige, and I won't let you and your damn family drag me down with them. Say what you want, I may be associated with you by blood, but we aren't family. We never will be." He turned ready to open the door "You won't get anything from me. I'll never help you Paige Callaghan. Never." He said and walked out.

"Gabriel wait." But he was already gone.

Gabriel had been her mother's younger brother and had been only a very young child when she had married Paige's father. This meant he felt little loyalty to his sister or any pity for the man and the family she had married into. Callaghan ruling stated that no member of the Callaghan family was to contact any family members who were 'disapproved' of. Gabriel had fallen into that category when he had become an auror – you could join the ministry as long as you reported back to the Callaghans and didn't do anything which could be seen as against the 'right side'.

It hurt that there was one member of her family she could be proud of, and he was the one member who wanted nothing to do with her. She understood his reasons; he had built a life away from everything that the Callaghans stood for; she had no right to come to him and ask him for anything. Her mother had not been there for Gabriel she renounced Gabriel's whole family because she had loved Paige's father. Paige wondered if she would ever love someone that much. She certainly could not understand how her mother loved her father like that. Then again Damien had once mentioned that he didn't think love was something you could understand without experiencing it. Paige knew that because of who she had been, and who her family were she didn't deserve to have people like Gabriel in her life. For all Sirius's anger and cruel words he still put up with her, and Gabriel was right – she didn't deserve it, she had no right to force herself into his life just as she had no right to force herself amongst the Order. She had not proven to them that she was of any use of any help, not just some freeloader incapable of being truly evil.

However Gabriel proving that he was the good man she had always believed did provide somewhat of an obstacle. She needed to know who had the capability of pulling the strings; who was who in the ministry. She knew now what she had known all along that she would have to return to the Callaghans in the end. That it would be the corrupt and scheming Uncle Sebastian who provided her with what she needed not good and noble Gabriel. Paige knew she had gone to Gabriel to begin with in the hope that perhaps he would see a change in her; that as a good man maybe he would recognise that she was no longer what she had been. Looking back it had been stupid; a tiger didn't change its stripes. Paige could fight for whatever cause she wanted but she would still be Paige Callaghan. She wasn't going to find redemption just for finally seeing what was right before her eyes. For finally seeing what she had so dutifully closed her eyes to for so many years.

So she walked back out of the room and aurors offices leaving her pile of papers where she found them and proceeded upwards to level three in search of Uncle Sebastian. Finding him was nowhere near as difficult as finding Gabriel had been. Sebastian was sat at a desk in an office with a sign saying _accidental magic reversal _on the door. Looking through the window she saw Uncle Sebastian sat at a desk a quill and some parchment lying unused by his side his head back mouth open snoring. Clearly the man had had a busy day.

She pushed open the door and it hit the opposite wall with a bang. Sebastian snorted jumped up and knocked his coffee cup onto the floor spilling it all over the dark blue carpet.

"What...I wasn't sleeping…I was just..." He said all in rush before he finally looked up and noticed who it was who had disturbed him. As he did so his face turned into a smirk. Paige knew the smirk very well and it had never boded well.

"Paige." He said his voice had the sickeningly sweet quality that you could tell was fake. Then again everything about Sebastian was fake; he was her father's older brother; and it showed. Thinning grey hair and dark but devious eyes; Sebastian was short and rather plump. He had never married but had one son who was nearly a carbon copy of Sebastian himself.

"Uncle Sebastian." She replied her voice as falsely sweet as his had been.

"What can I do for you dear Paige?" he asked gesturing to the chair across from him. Paige strode across the room and took the chair, watching her uncle.

"I need a few answers Uncle." She told him.

"And what would persuade me to give you these answers?" He asked.

"You and I both know Uncle who I carry information for. I do not think they would be pleased with your lack of cooperation." Paige was depending heavily on her uncle's ignorance of the real situation. All the Callaghan's truly knew was that Paige had walked out several months ago after an argument with her father. She had then disappeared off the wizarding radar; there had been no evidence to suggest she would not turn to those she had been dealing with before. It was a risk; if her uncle had been more closely connected with the Dark Lord's minions he would know for a fact that she had disappeared from their knowledge as well and they had been looking for her for a while.

Her Uncle however clearly believed her lies; as he looked decidedly nervous.

"What do you want to know?" He asked. Paige proceeded to interrogate her uncle about the workings of the ministry. She got a lot of useless rubbish but between that there were some things that were important. That just as Gabriel had said Fudge did not believe that the Dark Lord had returned and did seem to be going out of his way to try and discredit both Dumbledore and Harry Potter. There were also rumours about people who did believe it; she had pushed for names but it seemed Tonks and her bunch were being discrete enough that the information hadn't been pushed down that far. She also learnt that Percy Weasley was now assistant to the minister. She was unsure of how to take this news. Clearly the boy was not part of the Order but she still didn't know how he fit into the scheme of things. The search for Sirius however had nearly got her to crack a smile as Sebastian had told her that he had heard a rumour that Sirius was now in Tibet. Sebastian had mentioned several people who could be connected to anything to do with the Dementors; and Paige knew she would have to keep her ears alert for anything else.

Overall Paige didn't learn much that she could not have found out from various other sources. However by pushing Sebastian she knew the Callaghans would be alert to her re-emergence back into the wizarding world. She had no doubt that the news would spread to the Death Eaters still on the look out for her. However no one it seemed would ever believe the idea that she had defected to the other side; she was safe for the moment. She left Sebastian's office and headed back so she could find the exit. She would wait for Harry and Arthur outside.

It was unfortunate that for Paige things could never simple. She was out in the hall when she caught sight of a very familiar face. A face that stopped her dead in the room of bustling wizards. That brought to the surface so many memories; so many things from the past that her mind twisted itself in knots. A face that had at one point been so much to her. She now no longer knew what to think; she owed him so much, but she knew now – he was evil. It had never been something she was willing to categorise people with before, but in this case it was undeniable. There had never been a shred of goodness in him. He had helped her for the sheer pleasure of having her admire him and owe him. She had intrigued him and he had used her. He had played off her insecurities. It had been he who had ultimately affected her choice to nearly join the Death Eaters. But in the end she supposed it had been he that had changed her mind. There was a piece of her that hated the man so much, for every part he had played in her life. Still there was another part, a part from the past which felt the same as she always had. The fear, the awe, the admiration, even the moth to flame like attraction.

She turned away sharply but not before his ice grey eyes had caught hers causing a shiver to physically shake her body. She turned away and left back into the box transfigured her clothes back to the shirt and jeans and ripped the badge off. She clutched it tightly her mind still back at his grey eyes. She walked out and saw Harry and Arthur stood waiting. She didn't say a word merely followed them as they walked off, not even asking how Harry's trial had gone.

"You look like you've seen a ghost." Harry said looking at her.

"Maybe I have." She replied her eyes still haunted her voice deathly cold.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

The Black Knight and the Dangers of Dreams 

_She was playing chess. This in itself would not be odd, were it not for the circumstances under which she was playing. She knew the place well, she knew her opponent well and she knew the situation well, but she shouldn't be there. Her dream self, however, did not seem to agree. Her hand reached out and moved the bishop – a foolish move as it left the knight open for attack. Her opponent looked at her; his eyes as cold as calculating as ever. There was no mercy, his piece moved forward and swung towards the black knight. She watched his triumphant smirk as her knight fell, and stared at the board, at the remaining black knight. Her hand reached out and touched the knight, and there was a flash of familiar scent, a familiar feeling. Her opponent made no sound. He merely sat in his cold silence. _

_Paige did not understand what she was doing here. Sitting in this place once more playing chess. It had been years since she had watched him hoping he didn't see. Since she had looked around in wonder at this place, and dreamed what it would be like to live here. She had been young, naïve, and delusional. He had known of course. He had always been aware of her regard for him. That had been his original intention. He liked to have followers. Liked to have the feeling of power. Liked to rule over someone both physically and emotionally. He had been a powerful wizard; and in that respect she had not been foolish to admire him, but in all other respects she had been a fool. The man had no heart and little soul. He was evil – despite being evil with style. She had given him exactly what he wanted._

_Her dream self pushed the king and watched it topple. Why had she given up? It was not over – maybe he wouldn't always beat her. This was what she had always done back then – given up at the first sign of trouble. She was a coward. His eyes stared at hers triumph briefly flickered along with a smirk, as he stood from the table. Paige found herself watching him. He was all grace and smooth movement, his long blonde hair fell behind him; perfectly straight. His robes – black and of good quality – fit him well, and his cold grey eyes showed that essence of power and of superiority that had always captivated her. _

_The scene changed. He was still standing there, but now directly in front of her was Sirius Black. His grey eyes were still haunted, but strong and noble. His face was all hard plains, and strong but angled features. His long black hair flowed freely behind him. He was just as she knew him, still showing signs of Azkaban, a little too thin, his mouth too slow to smile, his eyes a little lost and always sad. However as he stood in front of her, he was more real, more true than the figure to his left – a figure so prominent in her past. So vital in the shaping of who she was. The other was a familiar figure from the present, part of her life now. Those eyes she had seen spark in both anger and laughter. Those lips that when curved into a smile lighted his entire face, chased away some of_ _the ghosts. The look of such pure intensity that Paige could almost feel his gaze burn into her._

_She had no idea what either of them was doing in her dreams. She watched as the scene changed. They were no longer in the mansion where she had played chess. Now they were in a dark room. She watched as Sirius turned away from her, and wondered about the strange hollow feeling as she watched both men. A harsh almost mechanical laugh broke from the cold eyed man as he stared at her. His long blonde hair did not seem to have as much lustre, or as much shine as she remembered. His eyes looked more dull. She frowned slightly. Was this how he really was? Had she merely seen him as she idolised him, rather than how he was in reality? The dark room they were in began to echo with voices, too mixed up for Paige to decipher any of the words Sirius still did not look at her but she heard him shout and from the darkness there came manic laughter and a pained cry as a bolt of green light shot from within. Paige merely watched as Sirius fell to the floor; all life gone from his grey eyes._

_She stared in horror at his body. She opened her mouth to scream as she felt the tears run down her face, but no sound came out. She couldn't comprehend the rush of emotions, she couldn't understand anything, but as she tried to move towards him, another figure blocked her path, turning his wand towards her. She heard his voice; as soft as silk, yet underneath the tone that would have previously plucked at her heartstrings she heard the harsh sound, the cold steel that she had missed before. He spoke but she_ _didn't hear his words, only his voice. As she saw the green light, she screamed…_

Paige jerked awake still screaming. Cold sweat clung to her body, and the green silk sheets were twisted and flung from the bed in chaos. She looked towards the ceiling to see the sun had barely begun to rise – it was early. Her hands were shaking and her mind was reeling from the images of her dream. Sure she had dreamed about guys before, and in her younger years many of the dreams had at some point featured the blonde haired mentor and Death Eater, but it was not that that bothered her. Instead it was the image of Sirius lying dead on the floor. She jumped from bed. Not even bothering with shoes she dashed from the room in her pyjamas. Her bare feet thudded on the cold wood floor, disturbing the silence that had wrapped itself around the corridor.

She sidestepped the door and the spot on the floor that she couldn't walk on and hurried down the flights of stairs. It was only when she reached the bottom that she realised she was unsure as to where she was actually meant to be going. Regardless she carried on walking allowing whatever it was that had made her dash of out bed to lead her. Her footsteps were now light as she walked slowly and carefully along the ground floor, careful not to disturb any sleeping portraits. Reaching a familiar door she pushed it open.

It was only when she saw the scene inside did she realise that her heart rate had been beating ridiculously fast. She felt relief sweep through her, although she was not entirely sure why. Surely she wasn't silly enough to think her dream was real. As she stared at him, head against the armrest of his chair, dark hair falling in front of his eyes book half open by his side; she knew she had been. She knew that she had been afraid that what she had seen was real. It had been utterly stupid and irrational and something against what Paige would have thought of as her personality. She had done stupid things before, but something so clearly illogical she was unused to. Sirius would have been fine; and why she had ran from her bed in nearly the middle of the night to check so was beyond her.

She turned to leave hoping she could put the dream and the event behind her.

"Don't go," Sirius mumbled. She rapidly turned looking at him wondering how she had woken him; she had not made any sound. "No I don't…" He muttered. Now she was thoroughly confused; she hadn't said anything. It was only as she drew closer that she realised Sirius's eyes were still closed; he was talking in his sleep.

"No. Leave them alone!" At his own shout he jerked awake his eyes opening and looking at Paige.

Paige could not identify the look in his eyes but as he stood up and came towards her she looked for an escape wondering if he was going to attack her. She sincerely hoped he knew that whatever had happened in his dream wasn't real. She grew even more confused as instead as she expected he neither drew his wand nor attacked. He merely reached out and gently wrapped his arms around her. Paige was rapidly growing more disconcerted yet as his arms closed around her; she couldn't help but feel safe. She felt the horror of her dreams recede, she knew that if he was in his right mind and not his sleep muddled one he would be horrified. However as she felt him hold her she could not find the strength to push him away; she found that she did not want to relinquish the so unfamiliar feeling.

However as Paige's head lay on his shoulder she smelled the faint scent that was purely Sirius. Time could have stopped for all she knew as she her senses could only fill with him. The moment however unreal was spoiled as a voice and footsteps were heard from outside in the corridor.

"Padfoot?" The voice inquired. Paige quickly pulled away and Sirius seemed to come to his senses as he looked around obviously unsure of what had just occurred.

"In here Moony," Sirius said ignoring Paige. Paige was distracted as extremely haggard Remus walked into the room. He looked as if he was just recovering from a bad bout of flu – his amber eyes were even more tired than usual and his face was paler.

"You ok Moony?" Sirius asked his voice quiet and concerned.

"Fine, I was…" Remus seemed to notice Paige was also in the room as he turned her attention to her. He looked at her and raised an eyebrow Paige looked down and realised she was still in her night clothes. Silk strap top and three quarter length bottoms were fine, but far removed from the robes or trousers they were used to.

"I'll just be going then," She muttered as she walked out. She cast a look back and caught Sirius's eyes. She really had no idea what had passed between them; but she had no doubt that neither of them would be mentioning it any time soon. However as she began to ascend the stairs she swore she heard Sirius's voice.

"Oh leave me alone Moony."

Paige trudged back upstairs cursing whatever instinct that had caused her to come here to begin with. She had never been all that good with emotions, and as if her dream hadn't been confusing enough, now she had to contend with the thought that maybe Sirius didn't hate her. If, as she thought, it had been a mistake, then Paige wondered about what Sirius had been dreaming. No doubt he had nightmares about all he had lost, about all the time he spent in Azkaban. Sometimes Paige found herself forgetting that the man had spent so long a prisoner for a crime he did not commit. He had lost so much, she had no doubt that he had much more right than she to have nightmares haunting him.

Paige knew no more sleep would come that night. Instead she grabbed a shower and dressed, before going back downstairs. She studiously avoided the library letting Sirius have his peace, and instead took her normal seat in the dining room. She had brought The Prophet with her and carefully unfolded it as she used her wand to pour the coffee. She found little of interest, it seemed that if The Prophet reporters ever found anything of interest the Ministry had enough control to stop them printing. When the writer – Rita something or another – had been The Prophet's main reporter, Paige knew there had been much more scandal, much more spin on things. Paige wasn't sure what had happened there, perhaps The Ministry had fired her.

The morning came as busy and bustling as normal with plenty of people coming and going from The Order. In fact, as this was the day before the younger members of the house returned to school, there was even more uproar.

"Have you heard?" Mrs Weasley asked rushing into the living room, where Paige and Remus were currently sat both deeply engrossed in books.

"Heard what?" Remus asked, as Paige pulled herself back into reality and the conversation.

"Ron's a prefect, oh I'm so proud. And Hermione too," she said before rushing off to tell everyone else. A minute later she popped back in "Oh we'll be having a little party later to celebrate. Anyway must be off; shopping to do."

Mrs Weasley was alien to Paige. She was the type of person that Paige had never before encountered and upon doing so found herself so far out of her depth she merely floundered trying to work out how to deal. She had a fiery yet still motherly personality, and was highly protective, responsible, and probably one of the best mothers anyone could ask for. She was a direct contrast to Paige's mother who had been shy and often timid character; who took to motherhood like a cat takes to water. Paige was unused to someone like Molly, who was domestic to a point it scared her, yet seemed to show such fierce loyalty to those she loved that Paige knew that no one would ever doubt her. Paige knew she was far from Molly Weasley's favourite person, but the woman showed courtesy and loyalty to Dumbledore, and sometimes Paige got the feeling that Molly understood more than she would ever let on.

The party was similar to normal dinner, with the general standard of good home cooking, but a huge red and gold banner hung over the table congratulating the two new prefects. Of what Paige knew of Hermione she was probably the perfect choice for a prefect. She was intelligent, moral and responsible, not to mention she had the general helping of Gryffindor pride, courage and determination. Paige found it strange at some points that it was the younger members of the household who were ready to accept her whereas many of the older members still held her in contempt. She was unsure if this was because they were older and therefore supposedly wiser so shouldn't trust her; or if their prejudices had built up over years; and were too strong to be changed.

Paige found that somehow gradually without her knowing it, she had become more comfortable with the house and its members. Remus, ever her silent reading companion, Molly Weasley the responsible and caring if a little wary mother, not to mention the younger members. Fred and George always up for a laugh, Ron possibly the best chess player she had ever met, Hermione with a higher IQ than most people she knew, and of course Harry. Harry who despite everything; his fame, his loss was still as down to earth as they came and was willing to look past her house despite everything he had been through. And now as Paige thought on there was Sirius. Sirius who had become such a big part of her life in the past few months. Sirius who despite all his words, she had more in common with than either would ever admit, Sirius who occupied far more of her thoughts than even the worthiest of adversaries should. Sirius who, despite everything, she knew she would miss should she leave. Paige knew that just as with Gabriel she had yet to prove her right to be here, but she would. She had to, but not for them; for herself.

"What about you Paige?" A voice asked from her left. Paige tried to remember exactly what the conversation had been about when she realised they were talking about being prefects. She had not been surprised to hear the Sirius had never been one; and that Remus had.

"No. As I am sure Professor Snape will tell you; I was hardly a role model figure; even for a Slytherin." She admitted. Paige had been a typical Slytherin at school; just as she had liked it. Her Callaghan background made her somewhat of a mercenary and she got into trouble more than was really necessary. In Slytherin prefects were generally those most popular those most prominent in the Slytherin house at the time.

"Did Professor Snape teach when you were at school?" Ginny asked interestedly.

"He started teaching when I was at school, and he was made head of house not long afterwards," she said.

"What was he like?" Ginny asked. She wondered if this was a deeper question than she could see as both Remus Sirius and Harry now looked interested.

"Just like any other professor I suppose. You've got to remember, my ultimate aim in school was to pass by unnoticed – not like yours. I was never really good at my studies, aside from a few specific subjects that my family didn't approve of. And I paid about as much attention to my professors as I did everything else in my life – very little," she explained. Her school days had never been her glory days, that was for certain. Then again Paige doubted she had ever had glory days, all of hers were of the rather murky type.

She looked up as Harry left the conversation going to join Moody who had just called him over. She like everyone had wondered vaguely why it had been Ron not he who gained the prefect badge. Of course she was hardly qualified to judge what certified as good prefect material, but from what everyone said of Harry and how he had treated her she had no doubt he would have probably done a very good job. It was never a position Paige had wanted – you needed to have responsibility and she supposed at the time probably a better set of morals than she had ever got hold of.

She walked over and joined Sirius barely noticing as Harry rushed off as she looked interestedly at the photo Moody was showing everyone. He named the people; although some she obviously recognised.

"Caradoc Dearborn," She muttered "Where have I heard that name before?" She racked her brains; that was when it hit her "He played the piano," She said.

"Yes," Moody growled both his eyes swivelled to her "How did you know?" His naturally paranoid nature came into play.

"His piano is in our downstairs living room. I used to play it when I was younger," she admitted "It has his name engraved on it; my dad tried to get it off a few times, but it would never come off. Never knew whether it was because this Caradoc was a great wizard or because my dad was a piss poor one."

"How did you get it?" Sirius asked.

"Probably the same way the Callaghans get everything else; theft, fraud you know the story," She said and even she heard the tone of bitterness that crept into her voice. Not even their piano was their own; no it belonged to some dead order member who was probably a better man than the entire Callaghan gene pool put together.

Trying to get her mind off it she looked back at the picture, Moody noticed where her eyes went to and went back to the picture.

"And there is a young Sirius," he said "With shorter hair." He added with a harsh laugh. Paige looked at the photo for a minute before lifting her eyes and staring at Sirius.

"Looks better now," she told him. He looked at her a little shocked before a smile came to his lips.

"See Moony;" he said turning to Remus "At least someone likes it."

"Ahh well. There's no accounting for taste," Remus said a twinkle in his eyes.

"Hey." Paige said with an affronted look "I'll have you know I have bucketfuls of taste," She said as both Remus and Sirius raised eyebrows. "If only I could remember where I put them." Sirius laughed with her and Remus only smiled.

"But really," She said turning back to Sirius "I know my opinion is about as much worth as that of spider you stepped on this morning, but I like it. It looks dashing," She told him. Sirius had that unreadable expression on his face for a few seconds before he smiled again.

"Why, do you think that spider liked my hairstyle?" He asked with such a serious look, that Paige couldn't help but crack up laughing.

It had been a long time since Paige laughed but it was welcome. The smile on Sirius's face was handsome, a smile that, in his youth, would have stopped girls dead. Paige hated to admit it, but even now the smile was annoyingly attractive. That Sirius was handsome was undeniable but he didn't have to flaunt it quite so much. Paige knew that today some things had changed, whether Sirius remembered what had occurred that morning or not, things were different between them. She knew that it was probably a good thing – after all they would be spending an awfully long time in the house together, and she would rather spend it with someone she could call a friend than someone who hated her guts.

She had a feeling that the fact she was a Slytherin would always hang between them, but perhaps people would finally see that in the end it never really mattered. That what was important had nothing to do with your childhood house but the choices you made, whether right or wrong.


End file.
